At the time of the incident, it had been 43 years since the imperial court last conducted a large-scale and thorough inventory of the treasury. Since www.biquge.info thoroughly checked the treasury in the fifth year of Jiaqing (9000 years in the Western calendar), every year it is just a routine check, and the minister of the treasury has turned over the accounts, looked at the doors and windows, checked the management system, and told the treasury soldiers a few words in a matter-of-fact manner. To say that they didn't notice the slightest bit of self-theft from the guards of the treasury, no one believed it, but, in a word, they couldn't afford to provoke it. Because this not only involves departmental interests and complex officialdom games, but even those treasury soldiers are not simple, the water is very deep, and some even eat both black and white. On the day of the opening of the warehouse, groups of heavily armed bodyguards outside the door of the bank of the household department gathered under the tree to enjoy the shade, and the majesty of the general officials of the household department could not be compared. These are the personal bodyguards of the Kubing, but in fact, they are not the Kubing soldiers, and they often face the danger of being kidnapped and robbed, because the huge profits can easily make the gangsters want to get rich. In addition, it costs six or seven thousand taels of silver to make up for the shortage of a treasury soldier, and in this case, it is strange who smashes his job and who he does not fight with.

After hearing the incident, some of the soldiers quickly fled. The furious Shaoguang Emperor strictly ordered the infantry army to lead the yamen and the Shuntian Mansion to take the throne. In the end, most of the soldiers were controlled, and many were arrested, but how to deal with it is also a big problem, because the case not only has a large number of people and involves a wide range of people, but it is also very difficult to collect evidence. In addition, this is a mass crime committed in the past several decades, and officials at all levels bear unshirkable responsibility, and if they had been a little more responsible, they would not have caused such strange cases; if they were to be held accountable now, they would be faced with the problem of "not being held accountable by the law," and it would also involve the malpractice of the management system. Therefore, Emperor Shaoguang was stunned, and he really didn't know who to settle the account.

After the minister's persuasion and enlightenment, Emperor Shaoguang gradually calmed down from his anger. Emperor Shaoguang said angrily, "It should have been set up to enforce the law and discipline, but after many years of reading, the officials are not one term, that is, there are many scribes and servants", and it is impossible to find out. Except for a few treasury soldiers with conclusive evidence and heinous circumstances who were sentenced to death, exile, and imprisonment, basically no criminal responsibility of the officials was investigated, and this was not a lenient treatment for them, but the Shaoguang Emperor's move had ulterior motives, and the country was in urgent need of money.

On April 7 (May 6 in the Western calendar), Emperor Shaoguang decided to investigate the economic responsibility of the people who had been in charge of the treasury in the past five years of Jiaqing, and ordered them to share the losses according to the length of their tenure. Among them, the treasurer and Chaku Yushi will pay 1,200 taels per month during their tenure; The Minister of the Treasury pays 500 taels per month; The minister of Chaku pays 6,000 taels for each Chaku. The compensation for those deceased officials is halved and paid by the children and grandchildren.

Soon, Emperor Shaoguang also drew up a detailed schedule for the payment of indemnities. During this period, some officials refused to pay compensation, and according to Emperor Shaoguang's wishes, those who refused to pay compensation would be "chased", that is, thrown into prison, and would not be released without paying money; If the compensation is not made after a certain period of time, criminal responsibility will be investigated as a crime.

What was the result of Emperor Shaoguang's recovery?

It's not ideal.

The amount of money was so large, and the state machinery was inefficient at that time, these factors determined that the recovery result was not ideal, and this was also expected by Emperor Shaoguang. In the process of recovery, some officials or descendants were unable to compensate, even if they were "supervised", so Emperor Shaoguang had to adjust the compensation standard, such as extending the compensation period or appropriately lowering the compensation standard. At the same time, Emperor Shaoguang also agreed that some special officials should be exempted from compensation, such as when the official himself died and his descendants were not yet minors.

The silver treasury case dealt a great blow to Emperor Shaoguang, not only did 9.25 million taels of snowflake silver disappear, which made Emperor Shaoguang, who advocated frugality, feel distressed, but what was even more breathless was that such a big case could not find out why, and several of the treasury soldiers who had committed crimes for many years are still at large. Emperor Shaoguang once angrily reprimanded the officials: "After many years, it has been ignored for many years, and it has not been obtained." What is the Yamen and others doing, it has been extremely fun! He is still under the command of the infantry army, and the yamen of the five cities of Shuntianfu are strictly taken into account, and the case will be investigated, and there will be no further delay! Despite Emperor Shaoguang's furiousness, there was still no news of the fugitive Ku soldiers.

The ancients said: "Mourning is greater than heart death". Emperor Shaoguang ruled the world for more than 20 years, although he made great efforts, but rarely did; He tried several times, but in the end he could not turn the tide. In the past, there was a heavy defeat in the anti-smoking war, and then there was a vertical attack on the silver treasury case, and the setbacks were one after another, and the political affairs were even worse; In addition, at this time, when he was over 60 years old, his physical strength and energy were gradually declining, and his ambition was exhausted, he showed obvious slackness and fatigue, he began to avoid the reality of many contradictions, slowly became discouraged, and reluctantly accepted the painful reality of the continuous decline of the Great Qian Empire.

Due to Shao Guangnian's experience, after Emperor Xianfeng succeeded to the throne, he vigorously rectified the household department and planned to carry out currency reform, but because of the rebellion of the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom and the battle of the Anglo-French alliance could not be implemented, Emperor Tongzhi ascended the throne, and the empress dowager of the two palaces listened to the government, intending to complete the will of Emperor Xianfeng.

The reform of the currency system of the Great Qian Empire was mainly carried out around two issues: the monetary standard and the monetary weight unit. Ministers from the government and the opposition have written proposals for currency reform, believing that currency reform is imperative, but for many years there has been a debate about the weight unit of the silver dollar, or "yuan" or "tael". The Department of Customs and Exclusion, which was controlled by the British, asked for a silver coin to be minted to pay the taxes. The General Department of Taxation of the Customs and Excise Department put forward the "Theory on Determining the Gold Price of the Silver Price in Qianguo" in a timely manner, advocating the adoption of the gold and silver double standard. Its main contents are: 1. Set up a unified mint, with Kuping two as a unit, mint one tael, five coins, two coins and five cents, one coin silver coins, and another one cent, one cent copper coin two kinds; 2. The ratio of silver to gold is always fixed, and eight taels of Singapore dollars is equal to one pound of gold; 3. All provincial mints shall be suspended and merged into the main plant; 4. The fineness of silver coins is set at ninety percent of one tael and five coins, and the remaining eighty percent; 5. Old currency is temporarily allowed to circulate and is limited to a certain period of time; 6. If there is any change in the price of gold and silver, it shall be determined by the above. In this system, the main currency is one or two silver coins, which are linked to the pound sterling, and when the price of gold and silver changes, the price of the gold coin will be transferred with the real gold price.

In order to take care of the conservatism of the Qianguo people, Hurd's proposal was not much different from the traditional silver two system in the Qianguo, except that the silver ingots should be minted into silver coins, which basically conformed to the habits of the Qianguo people, and thus won the approval of a large number of officials in the Qianguo court. Hurd became a pivotal figure in this currency reform, and the Empress Dowager Renxi summoned Hurd to inquire about the details this time, which can be said to be intended to put him in charge of the mint.

Hearing Empress Dowager Renxi's inquiry, Hurd, who had been prepared for a long time, tried his best to explain to Empress Dowager Renxi and the two princes in plain and fluent language the new monetary system he had tailored for the Qianguo, as well as the specific implementation rules and possible obstacles and solutions. After listening to Hurd's detailed explanation, the Empress Dowager Renxi and the two princes expressed their satisfaction and decided to handle it according to Hurd's suggestion, and Hurd had full authority to preside over the currency reform of the Qianguo, and asked Hurd to write a detailed report and send it after he returned.

After leaving the Forbidden City, the ecstatic Hurd could not wait to telegraph to Jin Denggan, the director of the London office, saying: "The Qianguo government has decided to establish a national mint and entrust me with management rights. ”

Taohuayu, hot spring villa.

"The Ministry of Household has purchased machinery from England and has begun to test mint a new set of silver coins with a face value of one tael, five coins, two coins, one coin, and five cents, with a silver content of 90% for the main coin and 83% for the auxiliary coin. It is basically the same as the silver coin proposed by Hurd in terms of shape and fineness, and is obviously the result of the influence of Hurd's monetary theory. Yoko Shimazu said to Lin Yiqing, "This shows that the national mint of Qianguo will be managed by Hurd and the British." ”

"Hurd's ability is still good, the current customs under his management, clean and efficient, the work of issuing new silver coins, because it is related to money, is very prone to problems, and it really has to be handled by people like Hurd who are proficient in management." Lin Yiqing thought for a while and replied, "The Queen Mother and the two princes should also think about it in this way, so they handed over the mint to him with full responsibility, but the issuance of new silver coins does not mean that the financial power falls into his hands, and the financial power is still in the household department, so we don't need to worry." ”

"Lin Jun, you are indifferent to Hurd's management of the mint, I'm afraid you have other intentions, right?" Yoko Shimazu looked at Lin Yiqing, smiled slightly, and asked.

"I can't hide anything from you." Lin Yiqing laughed.

"Hurd, this person, he has talent, but he is a little too energetic." Lin Yiqing said with a smile, "Now that the customs has let him manage it in an orderly manner, he himself is idle, he always wants to intervene in the navy, and give him the work of managing the mint, so that he can focus on the currency reform of my big work, stop and stop, don't always think about the navy." ”

"Hehe, Lin Jun is really smart." Yoko Shimazu clapped his hands and laughed, "The officials and people of the Qianguo are conservative, and the currency reform is already very difficult, if you let Hurd toss, I am afraid that he will be exhausted and have no heart to meddle in the affairs of the Qianguo Navy." ”

"Qingliu is conservative, when I heard that the British were managing the mint, I thought that if the financial power was lost, someone would definitely jump to the ground, and Hurd's resistance to this matter was actually very great, and we had to secretly help him to do it." Lin Yiqing said, "After all, if the currency reform can be successful, it will be of great benefit to the country and the people." ”

"Yes! If the reform of the currency system in Qianguo can be completed, the state's fiscal revenue will increase markedly. Yoko Shimazu nodded, "Luo's borrowing into Qianguo will also run more smoothly, and the economy of Qianguo will be greatly improved." With the increase in fiscal revenue, the navy will naturally invest more. ”

"Hehe, this is an optimistic estimate, there are still many stubborn and conservative people in the government and the opposition, and even if there is more money, they will prevent it from being used on the navy, so we still have a lot to do." Lin Yiqing said.

"Then you just said that we can take a break in the next three or four years." Yoko Shimazu said with a smile.

"Of course it's going to be free, and as for some things, you can do it in the dark." Lin Yiqing smiled, "People are afraid of being famous, pigs are afraid of being strong, and the gun shoots the first bird, so I, Lin someone, should not be the first bird, I want to be an owl, and I will clean up those rats in the dark." ”

"Lin Jun, you made me laugh so cold just now......"

"Then I'll give you some warmth now!"

"Don't ......"

"No......"

January 15, 9089 (the fifteenth year of the Great Qianguang Xu, the twenty-second year of the Meiji era in Japan), the eastern suburbs of the capital, the railway station.

The conductor walked out and announced that the ticket was being cut. Only four or five locals in gray winter clothes were silently getting on and off the bus.

Zhang Peilun, who was returning to his hometown to visit relatives, saw a woman standing by the window of the waiting room. The glass windows are closed. From the train, she looked like a strange fruit in a fruit shop in a deserted village, abandoned alone in a glass box blackened by soot.

As soon as the train started, the glass window in the waiting room suddenly brightened, and the woman's face glittered in the bright light, and then disappeared. This face was as red as the one reflected in the mirror on a snowy day in the morning. In Zhang Peilun's view, this is another color between fantasy and reality.

The train climbed the mountain at the county border from the north and passed through a long tunnel, only to see the faint sunlight of the winter afternoon swallowed up by the darkness underground, and like the old train shedding its bright shell in the tunnel, between the overlapping mountains, towards the twilight valley. It hasn't snowed yet on this side of the mountain.

After a short drive along the river, we came to a vast field, the top of which seemed to be carved by a fine workmanship, from which a gentle diagonal line emerged, which stretched to the foot of the mountain. The mountain is covered with moonlight. This is the only view at the end of the wilderness. The faint sunset reflects the entire mountain landscape in a deep royal blue, and the outline is clearly emerging. Although the moonlight has faded, the afterglow is endless, and it does not make people feel like a cold winter night. There is not a single bird in the sky. At the foot of the mountain, as far as the eye can see, stretches far to the left and right, and near the river, there is a white building that looks like a stupa. It was the only thing left through the car window, in the bleak twilight of winter.

As a result of the heating, the windows of the car begin to be covered with a layer of steam, and the flowing fields outside the windows gradually dim, and the images of passengers are reflected translucently on the window panes. This is the ever-changing scenery on the mirrored surface reflected by the setting sun. The old-fashioned passenger cars, which are so old and faded, are only hung with three or four carriages, as if they are not trains on the Beijing-Tianjin railway line, but somewhere else. The lighting is also dim.

Zhang Peilun seemed to be sitting on something unrealistic, lost the concept of time and distance, fell into a trance, and let it carry his body in vain. The monotonous sound of wheels sounded like a woman's words at first.

The words are staccato and rather brief, but they are symbolic of the woman's struggle to survive. He was so sad that he could not forget it. However, for Zhang Peilun, who is gradually moving away, it is now a distant voice that only adds a little sadness.

The number of passengers is intimidating.

There was only a man fifty miles away, sitting opposite a red-faced girl, and the two of them were just talking. The girl wore a black scarf over her round shoulders, and her cheeks were as red as fire, and she was very beautiful. She leaned out and listened intently, happily answering each other. Looking at the appearance of the two of them, they are on a long journey.

However, when he arrived at the railway station, where there was a chimney of a textile factory, the old man hurriedly removed the wicker box from the luggage rack, unloaded it from the window to the platform, and left a sentence to the girl, "Well, we will meet again if we are fated," and got off the train and left.

Zhang Peilun couldn't help it, tears were about to burst out of his eyes, and even he himself was stunned. This situation made him feel more and more that the old man was saying goodbye to the woman and going home.

I never dreamed that the two of them would just meet by chance in the same car. The man is probably a single gang or something.

The river at the foot of the mountain seems to flow from the top of a cedar tree. The hills bloomed with flowers that looked like white-bearded branches, shimmering with a silver light.

Zhang Peilun, who got out of the car, looked greedily.

He settled first in an inn, and when he came out of the indoor hot spring, he saw a Russian woman sitting at the gate. Why did she come to such a poor country? Zhang Peilun walked over and saw that there were some common Western women's cosmetics and hair accessories.

She seemed to be in her early forties, her face was wrinkled, and very dirty, but the exposed part of her neck was white and fat.

"Where did you come from?" Zhang Peilun asked.

"Where's the fight? You're asking me where I'm calling? The Russian woman didn't know what to say, and thought as she cleaned up the stall.

The skirt she wore no longer looked like a piece of clothing, but like an unclean cloth wrapped around her body. She is like an authentic country woman in Qianguo, carrying a big burden back. However, he still wears leather boots on his feet.

At the invitation of the innkeeper who was watching the Russian woman with him, Zhang Peilun went to the tent and saw a tall woman sitting by the fireside with her back to him. The woman lifted the hem of her dress and stood up. She wears a black gown with a family coat of arms.

Zhang Peilun felt that she was very familiar, she was dressed for the banquet, put on snow pants, and sat side by side with another woman on a chair. She is a plump and down-to-earth middle-aged woman.

The innkeeper put fire chopsticks on the stove and roasted oval-shaped soybean-stuffed buns.

"How about eating this thing? It's a happy event, so let's try it? ”

"When did Russian women start here?"

"I had it a few years ago."

"They...... What are you doing here? ”

"You're really joking about the guests, what do you think they're here for? ……”

Zhang Peilun picked up the hot bean paste bun and took a bite while blowing, the filling of the bun was very thick, but it was delicious, not as sweet as the fine points in Beijing.

Outside the window, several women passed by with grass on their backs, and large bundles of grass covered the bodies of the women carrying it. As you walked past, the bales of straw rustled across the stone cliffs of the slope. (To be continued.) )