Salt administration, since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have been important policies for the imperial court to collect wealth, and even the Southern Song Dynasty has supported half of the country, but in this Ming Dynasty, the salt administration has also been deformed.

In the Qing Dynasty, the annual income of the two Huai salt politics reached tens of millions of two hundred and twenty-two million taels, but even if the Wanli year saw it, the salt water was only more than two million taels, and during the Chongzhen period, there was even a time when it fell below one million taels, and the country's great policy of increasing fiscal revenue had become a group of salt merchants and corrupt officials and moths colluded up and down to collect money, and more than seventy or eighty percent of the profits were divided up by them, and the court picked up the leftovers and was scolded by the people in vain.

However, it is precisely because of such deformed politics that the special rich group of Yangzhou salt merchants has been raised, and the rich assets of the salt merchants have nowhere to spend, and they are spent on the cultural industry, so that the cultural development of Jiangnan has become unprecedentedly high-speed and developed, and there are also two special classes dedicated to serving salt merchants, Yangzhou Slender Horse and Shaoxing Master.

This Yangzhou thin horse Mao Jue has already seen it, Adriana is a Yangzhou thin horse, and Liu Botao is a member of the master of Shaoxing.

The single-plank bridge of the imperial examination is too narrow, the literary style of Jiangnan is too prosperous, and the poor children who have no family background and no way can not walk at all, in order to survive, some of them are engaged in business, and some are out of the scene.

In the Qing Dynasty, the development of Shaoxing master even became synonymous with strategists, literati born in one place, secretly even enough to influence the political arena of the empire, and in the long-term financial management, prison sentences, tax money valley management, these people have also accumulated profound and valuable experience.

Now at the end of the Ming Dynasty, Mao Jue didn't know what the overall level of the Shaoxing master was, but this Liu Botao's level definitely exceeded the talents professionally trained by the Dongjiang Academy.

And it's not just about getting a talent to govern the place, just because of the regionality of Master Shaoxing, if you accept one, maybe you can catch a string of them, especially when Mao Jue won the office, he dug the corners of the Jiangnan clan, and put some local politics in the southern state capital into chaos, which is simply killing two birds with one stone.

So Mao Jue left him Liu Botao for about ten minutes, and only told one thing, that is, to recruit people, gave him the position of the head of the ministry, and promised that if he could recruit a hundred, he would promote the middle of the ministry, and if he could recruit a thousand, he would promote the waiter.

He can be promoted, and he can also drive his fellow villagers, this deal is too cost-effective for Liu Botao, and he directly chartered a study in the Wenmo shop, and he wrote endless letters when he threw off the pen.

These letters had just been written, and the ink was still a little dry, so they were immediately invited away by the officials waiting at the door, what Liu Botao didn't know was that for him alone, he even launched a small half of the intelligence network in the south of the Liaozhen River, and Lu Zhong, the new commander of the Jinyi Guard under Mao Jue, was also launched and arrived in the form of a bird to pass the book.

This envoy of the Southern Ming Dynasty is still grinding on the road, and the dense letters that are like propaganda leaflets have been scattered all over the prefect and county offices of Suhu County.

…………

Songjiang County Ya.

These days, the turmoil in the south of the Yangtze River is not small, the Jingshi Imperial Court is wiped out, and the Nanjing Sixth Division, which was once a nursing home, has become the master of Huadan, Donglin Party, non-Donglin, Shengdan Jingmo and ugly all kinds of characters want to go up and play it, especially recently I heard that the Liao King of the Imperial Court defeated the traitor Li Zicheng's million-strong army, and the hundred officials of the imperial court are likely to carry the newly enthroned Hongguang Emperor to the north, and when the time comes, they will be able to receive more huge rights, up to the leaders of the Donglin family and the political leaders of the non-Donglin system, and down to the spiritual leaders of the Fushe such as Zhang Pu and Zhang Cai brothers, At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the four princes and other opposition people were all intoxicated with the struggle for power, and they all wanted to take a bite of the cake in the future.

Old man Zhu was shrewd enough, and when the founding of the People's Republic of China, he considered the situation of local officials relying on their families to bully the township, and the officials implemented an iron law of more than 280 years, that is, officials are not allowed to serve in their own townships.

However, there are policies and countermeasures, although the world is big, but it can't escape the network, the officials here pull the same year and there Uncle Shishi, your son is here I will help you take care of it, my nephew is in your place You are also good to watch, this Songjiang County Gong Hao is also similar, he was born in Hangzhou Gong family, there is the base of the Zhejiang Party, to Songjiang here is the base camp of Donglin, and several local clans are also inclined to Donglin, but his old man has a relationship with the money family, and he is also stable as an official here.

But now, with such a strong wind downward, this small county government is naturally not spared, although it is not mixed in the big power, but it also has to consider the issue of standing in line, especially the Donglin clan, which is usually quite tolerated, and it has begun to be unpleasant to see that he is a nail in the Zhejiang Party.

Where to go, this fat county order has to think hard. Sitting in the county office, Gong Hao was impotent like a watermelon on the chair of the great master, shaking the fan while still sighing and muttering there.

"Everybody's fucking uncle! The official is sesame! Several children dare to point at Lao Tzu's nose and make trouble, what is the meaning of this official? ”

But when Sesame also has a majestic style, just when he was at a loss, suddenly a few knocks on the door sounded softly, and then, a man who was about as fat as him, wearing a red velvet robe, wearing a melon skin hat inlaid with inferior jade, and a pair of treacherous sharp rat whiskers were cocked, and walked in with a smile like a watermelon pulp, clenching his fists in his stomach, and bowing uncomfortably.

"Dong Weng! Lord Liu came to urge, let Songjiang County hurry up and escort Qian Gu over!"

At this time, the situation in Nanjing was that Ma Shiying and Ma Yaocao, who were against the Donglin side, were better than Ma Shiying, contacted the three towns of Jiangbei to force the palace, and sat firmly in the position of the first auxiliary scholar, forcing the former Nanjing military department scholar and Dongge scholar on the Donglin side, and the famous Shi Kefa could not stand.

On the issue of support, Shi Kefa proposed that King Fu Qi does not stand, waiting for Ma Shiying's army to press the border, supporting King Fu is already the trend of the times before changing his position to support Fu, has naturally lost Zhu Yousong's trust, and he adheres to Donglin's consistent fault, Qing Gao, looks down on military generals and eunuchs, so that Ma Shiying, who knows how to be more flexible, first won over the three towns of Jiangbei, and in terms of military power, Donglin is at an absolute disadvantage.

In order to make up for this, Donglin Ke vigorously attacked Mao Jue, in fact, the purpose was to scare Mao Jue to their side, and Ma Shiying to fight against each other, in order to divide Ma Shiying's forces, Shi Kefa came to retreat again, and asked himself to supervise Jianghuai, a few days ago, he moved the camp to Yangzhou.

However, since he came to win over the three towns in Jiangbei, he naturally had to bleed, and he took the silver and the grain and salary to raise it well, where did the silver grain and grass come from, of course, it was collected from all over the south of the Yangtze River, and it was forcibly showdown to the counties.

But the problem is that the Donglin Party screamed, and when it was really reluctant, it was reluctant to take the silver, in Songjiang County, more than ninety percent of the land was lost to money, Yang, Liu, and Zhao families, they had a lot of officials in the door, and they were tax-exempt, and the remaining one-tenth of the land was starved to death and could not take out the military rations assigned by Shi Kefa.

It's a pity that when he came, it was very unfortunate, just a belly was on fire, and the county commander Gong Hao was directly angry and splashed a cup of tea, and before the teacher Zhao Jin finished speaking, he was sprayed with this hot water firmly.

After pouring tea and still not relieving his hatred, Gong Hao also scolded the past: "This official is planning for the major affairs of the imperial court, and this little matter of money, grain and grain also bothers me, what's the use of asking you to be a lowly subordinate?" ”

"Look at it yourself, and if you can't do it, you will pack up and leave!"

"Yes! Dong Weng has learned a great lesson!"

It's really a work ethic, the tea fell down the fat face, the teacher was stunned, nodded and smiled and withdrew, but as soon as he closed the door, his face couldn't help but be gloomy.

People are not machines, who does not have dignity and temper? This is really called a naked slap in the face! With a gloomy face, he went back to the signing room directly, but looking at the account book on the table, his face fell again.

The people have no food, and the big clan can't afford it, so if he asks him to solve it by himself, what will he do to solve it?

Just when Zhao Jin was at a loss, there was a knock at the door of Leng Buding.

"Master! Just now, a Xiao Si came and sent a letter, saying that it was your old friend Liu Weng's handwritten letter from Dongxiang!"

With Dong Qichang, the master, Liu Botao is also a little famous, listening to this registration, Zhao Jin couldn't help but sigh, waved his hand and said, "Take it in!"

If you really can't get along with Gong Hao here, it's also a way to try your luck with him, the big brother, with the power of the Dong family, it is easy to find a county order, and having a county order must be indispensable for him to be a master, muttering, Zhao Jin slowly opened the handbook, but after only two glances, his eyes straightened, and then the more he read down, the brighter it became, and at the end of the reading, he simply stood up like a ball.

This master is also a decisive person, he turned around a few times with his hands behind his back, threw the seal on the table, and then he slipped out of the county office in a hurry.

"Cui'er, take the child, clean up a little soft, let's hurry up on the road, be fast!"

…………

Early the next morning, Gong Hao was like a chocolate volcano cake, and with a gloomy face, he kicked open the door of the county government signing room, roaring angrily.

"A little money and food has not been solved until now, and Lord Zhao has to find the head of the official, you master ......"

"What about people?"

Looking at the empty signing room, Gong Hao almost fainted, and then roared angrily at the head catcher.

"Li catches the head! Go to Master Zhao's house and let him hurry up to see this official!"

"Yes, sir!"

A few quick farts came out of the county office, but after a while, they came back sadly, and they hugged their fists helplessly.

"Sir! Master Zhao is not at home, looking at his house, it seems that he has cleaned up and moved!"

"Ran away?"

Gong Hao shouted in disbelief again, and then he waved his hand again in annoyance.

"Send someone to Zeng's house and inform them that Master Zhao has run away, and the official wants him to find no more work in the officialdom! In addition, let the Zeng family quickly recommend the two masters to the official, and they will take care of the matter!"

"Yes, sir!"

The catchers nodded again, anxious about standing in line, Gong County Ling threw the trivial matters of the county government behind him in a blink of an eye, anyway, there are broken literati, and naturally someone will come to clean up the mess in two days.

Who knows, after two days, it will become forever!

With a bang, Master Li, who was sent by Shi Kefa to collect money and grain, smashed the seal on the table in anger and roared angrily.

"Songjiang County, the cabinet lord ordered half a month ago, and now there is no money and food! Isn't your county order tired of being crooked, and you have to disobey it? ”

"Your Excellency is angry, happy and angry! The small one has already been sent to collect it, and the grain and grass will be delivered in two days, two days!"

"In just two days, if you can't see food again, this official will immediately dismiss you and investigate you!"

Frightened into a cold sweat, the fat on his body seemed to have lost half a catty, and the beads of sweat on his back were pouring out, and he roared extremely sadly when he saw Lord Li leave the county office.

"Isn't there any news from the Zeng family? Is it so difficult to find a master? ”

Like his face, it became a bitter gourd face, and Li Zhutou also said sadly: "There is no news yet, the lord has been evil in the past few days, and the master with a little face doesn't know where to go, the Zeng family said that someone has been sent to Shaoxing, and Huzhou has found it, the fastest, it will be next month!"

"Next month!"

Usually he either recites poetry or eats, drinks and has fun, and he doesn't know anything about these Qian Gu sentences, looking at the room full of account books, for a while, this Gong County Order is almost not crazy.

But what he didn't know was that the unlucky ones didn't know his family, more than 60 counties along the Yangtze River, more than 40 were similar to him, and in Yangzhou, many big salt merchants and big shops were suddenly empty, so that the salt merchants were flustered.

Among them, the most influential encounter is Shi Kefa, the overseer of Yangzhou!

(End of chapter)