Yang Huairen helped Cen Xiaonian to get up, and then walked out of the room with him one after another, Tong Guan had been waiting outside the door for a long time, and saw that Yang Huairen's expression was a little solemn, and it was inconvenient to inquire about anything, so he was even more curious.

Cen Xiaonian sent Yang Huairen and Tong Guan back to the dragon boat all the way, and when Cen Xiaonian went back, Yang Huairen asked Tong Guan alone, "If you were asked to choose one between Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian, how would you choose?" ”

Tong Guan was shocked in his heart, and he didn't know how to answer for a while.

He understood very well that Yang Huairen was testing him, maybe Yang Huairen knew about the matter between Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian, and thought about getting rid of one, so he asked him such a question.

Tong Guan's mind was confused, and he didn't know how to choose, but after thinking about it carefully, it must have been Cen Xiaonian who secretly told Yang Huairen something about Zhao Xianqiu, so that Yang Huairen began to think about such a serious problem.

He suddenly figured it out, according to Yang Huairen's character, he was greedy for small bribes, maybe he was really too lazy to care.

But there is really a big rape and a big evil, Yang Huairen will definitely not let it go, although in Tong Guan's heart, Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian are not good birds, but if they can be regarded as a big evil, only Zhao Xianqiu is the one who can be regarded as a big evil.

But Zhao Xianqiu's power in Jiangnan is too great, much bigger than Cen Xiaonian, before Yang Huairen came to Jiangnan, if the same problem was placed in front of him, he would definitely choose Zhao Xianqiu. But now ......

After thinking about it for a while, Tong Guan was already sweating like rain, but he still didn't think of how to answer.

Yang Huairen looked at him and smiled, "If the Tong Pavilion Leader is unwilling to answer, forget it." ”

Tong Guan was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground, "The prince forgives the sin, the slave and maid are chosen, the slave and the maid choose the prince, no matter what the prince does, the slave and the maid are on the side of the prince and try their best to assist the prince." ”

Yang Huairen said that Tong Guan, this kid is really a chicken thief, and even changed his claim under persecution, but he still answered a perfect answer.

Yang Huairen didn't mean to embarrass him, he just wanted to see from his mouth and from different perspectives what kind of people Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian were.

"Tong Ge Ling doesn't need to panic, get up and speak. Let me ask you, in your eyes, what kind of people are Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian? ”

Tong Guan stood up tremblingly, rolled up his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his head, then tried to calm himself down, and said slowly, "The slave maid thinks that if an official is judged simply by its good or bad, then the officials in Jiangnan should not be able to find a good official." ”

"Oh?"

Yang Huairen smiled, "What is this statement?" Among the officials in Jiangnan, there is not a good official? Isn't that even you? ”

Tong Guan replied, "You can say that, you can't say that. In the rich land south of the Yangtze River, there are more rich people than other places in the Great Song Dynasty, and the common people are richer than the common people in other places.

Therefore, the folk customs in Jiangnan are popular, and anyone who is looking for the government to do things, there is no one who does not give gifts, and if you want to say that an official has never received benefits from a businessman, then you may not be able to find any one.

But to say that receiving gifts from the people is even a corrupt official, it is a bit far-fetched. So it's really a bit difficult to define a good official and a corrupt official.

Don't hide it from the prince, the slaves and maids in the weaving bureau also have some similar experiences, and the usual exchanges are just that, just say that the silk that the palace wants as a tribute every year, and the merchants in Suzhou, Changzhou and Huzhou are about to break their heads.

Although the silk used in the palace is far from being comparable to the amount of silk used by the people, the northerners are stubborn and feel that which silk in the palace must be the best.

Therefore, in order to become the imperial merchants who provided silk to the palace, those silk merchants were going to break their heads, and every year when it was time to pay tribute to the palace, these merchants would try their best to give gifts to our family.

Our family has only been in charge of Jiangnan weaving for two years, and no one dares to offend those who are not familiar with the place. Those silk merchants are not just businessmen, who has no relationship in the capital?

We don't dare to collect money directly, but when people come to give gifts, we can't kick them out, so we can only patiently deal with these businessmen.

Lord Wang, you say, can our family not panic? In the past two years, just the gifts received have been converted into at least tens of thousands of dollars. ”

Yang Huairen wanted to laugh in his heart, only tens of thousands of dollars? It can't be so little, right? You're really going to avoid the big and take it lightly.

However, what Tong Guan said is also human nature, Jiangnan folk customs are indeed so, he came to Jiangnan, and he also received a lot of gifts, and the person who gave the gift did not ask you to help do anything, but he felt that there was a big official, and if he didn't give gifts, he would be in trouble.

Speaking of those gifts, the merchants in Jiangnan are indeed ingenious, there is definitely no cash, it seems vulgar, but precious calligraphy and painting, tea, silk and porcelain and other specialties, look very ordinary, but the actual value is not to give gold and silver at all.

Yang Huairen doesn't think so, but if he doesn't accept it with a straight face, it will ruin your image, make people think that you are individual, and even suspect that you don't accept gifts for more valuable gifts.

Tong Guan said this, it sounded like he was admitting his guilt, but in fact, he did exonerate himself, Yang Huairen didn't care about such a big thing, what he wanted to listen to was Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian.

Tong Guan peeked at Yang Huairen's face and saw that he was indifferent to what he said just now, so he was a little relieved and changed the topic to the main topic.

"Zhao Xianqiu and Cen Xiaonian, it is inevitable to receive gifts, let's just say that Father-in-law Cen is in charge of this part of the city, and those maritime merchants will definitely give gifts to Father-in-law Cen if they want to get a convenience in maritime trade.

In fact, doing business in Jiangnan, this aspect of things is inevitable at all, and the yamen of the three divisions must give the largest share, and the local government must also have a share.

In addition, whether it is a local hero, a thief in the mountains or a pirate at sea, there must be a share, this kind of money is counted on the books of the businessmen in business, and it is also called peace money.

That is to say, they must take care of all aspects involved in business, black and white, and each family gives a piece of money, which is regarded as buying a peace, so this kind of expenditure is called peace money.

For the merchants, the kind of money spent is not worth mentioning at all compared to the profits they get from doing business peacefully, so everyone does it without feeling that there is anything wrong with it.

It has been like this for many years, and it has formed a kind of conventional, no one says it on the surface, but everyone knows it in their hearts.

The officials in Jiangnan also acquiesced to this atmosphere, so no one thought it was strange. ”