Chapter 260: Selling Favors

Zhang Zhou returned to his yard. As soon as he entered the backyard, he saw Wang Mingshan surrounded by several women from his family.

Wang Mingshan had just put on the clothes prepared for her, and the Feiyu embroidered spring knife was worn on her daughter for the first time, which made Jiang Pingyu and Han Qing look particularly fresh. .

Fei pulled her and asked her to show her off.

Wang Mingshan doesn’t have any scheming ideas. When others ask her to show off, she is like a movable clothes hanger, spinning her around wherever she is told.

Looking from a distance, Zhang Zhou felt that there was something new in Wang Mingshan’s face that had never appeared before, and there was a light and brisk lift between her eyebrows.

It seems to be fun too.

Facing such a girl with a bit of innocence and innocence.

Zhang Zhou suddenly felt that some facts were too cruel.

Up to now, Wang Yue's death is still a secret to the court, but Zhang Zhou does not want this secret to remain between him and Wang Mingshan.

If there is something, there is something, and if there is nothing, there is nothing.

Facing a little girl like Wang Mingshan with clear, transparent and innocent eyes, Zhang Zhou really couldn't think of any reason to complicate a simple problem.

To make her understand the gray things in the world, it is to expose her to the sinister nature of people's hearts.

"Master."

When Jiang Pingyu and the others saw Zhang Zhou, they all came over to greet him.

After Zhang Zhou nodded, he let Jiang Pingyu and Han Qing enter the backyard first, leaving Wang Mingshan alone.

Wang Mingshan thought Zhang Zhou also liked her as a clothes hanger, and then she walked around in front of Zhang Zhou, probably to let Zhang Zhou judge whether her clothes fit her.

"Do you like this outfit?" Zhang Zhou asked.

Wang Mingshan was startled for a moment, then handed the knife forward.

The meaning is obvious.

She didn’t feel anything about the clothes, but she liked the knife very much.

"Come here." Zhang Zhou greeted her and asked her to come to the stone bench.

Zhang Zhou was sitting, and she was standing next to Zhang Zhou as before, like a loyal guard, but she didn't have this style before, and it was not formal enough.

Zhang Zhou stretched out his hand.

Wang Mingshan put the knife in Zhang Zhou's hand, but Zhang Zhou put the Xiuchun knife on the stone table. When he reached out again, Wang Mingshan naturally put his hand over.

When holding hands together, Zhang Zhou could also feel the warmth on the hands of a girl with a cold heart.

This kind of temperature was probably brought to her by him and this family.

It was something she had never felt before.

Zhang Zhou looked at the hand in front of him. The skin on the back of the hand was quite delicate, but the palm was slightly calloused. From this, Zhang Zhou knew how hard Wang Mingshan had worked hard to practice martial arts since she was a child.

Unlike other women in Zhang Zhou’s backyard, Wang Mingshan did not object to Zhang Zhou holding her hand, or she did not think it was appropriate or inappropriate.There is no shyness or grudge. In her eyes, the difference between distance and nearness is very obvious. She is not wary of people in the yard, but when she goes outside, she is like a female leopard, always alert.

"Mingshan, I don't want to hide it from you. Your grandfather passed away two days ago. He passed away peacefully. It will probably take ten days before your family mourns."

When Zhang Zhou said this, Wang Mingshan’s arms suddenly tightened with a natural reaction.

After a brief absence, she looked at Zhang Zhou again and shook her head, feeling that this did not seem to be what really happened.

Zhang Zhou sighed.

He knew that in Wang Mingshan's heart, Wang Yue's image was too majestic.

That is the flag of the Wang family. The situation of the Wang family in the past few decades is most directly related to Wang Yue. Once it was glorious and fell into decline, and the whole family was homeless, and then came back, Wang Yue resisted for the past few decades. Everything the Wang family could experience, when Wang Yue suddenly collapsed, it was no less than the sky falling for the Wang family.

In the heart of a simple-minded girl like Wang Mingshan, how could the sky fall?

The sky should always be above the head, and the wind, frost, rain and dew that the Wang family has personally experienced should always be under the protection of the sky. Only later

Zhang Zhou took her over.

I wanted to say a few words of comfort, but found that everything was in vain.

It was different from the sadness on Wang Shouren's face.

Wang Mingshan was more disbelieving or at a loss. She didn’t know how to face this situation.

Probably she also knows that this is no less than the sky falling for the Wang family, but she also feels that she has married into the Zhang family and has nothing to do with the Wang family, so the Wang family's sky is still open to her. Does it have any meaning?

Emotional bonds

In the first dozen years of her life, as far back as she can remember, the Wang family has been living in exile. Her mother and female elders around her were absent, and no one took care of her. She could only learn martial arts. No one had ever cared about her. She couldn't even recognize a few words. Some people had taught her about filial piety and etiquette, but those things were too far away or too unreal for her. .

Even she and Zhang Zhou were given as "gifts" by the family without consulting her at all.

"If you feel unhappy, just go practice." Sword, sweat it out, and take a shower. Go check out some of the weapons I gave you to see if you can find any. If you are still unhappy, go talk to your two sisters and ask them to help you with clothing and clothing. Jewelry, the glass beads you like, I will bring you more later."

Zhang Zhou discovered that it was actually quite simple to comfort Wang Mingshan.

No coaxing required.

She looks dull, but in fact she is so obedient and sensible that she seems to be otherworldly.

There is no need to think about what she is thinking in her heart. Maybe she just emptied her head of all the thoughts and didn't think about anything.

"Yes."

Wang Mingshan nodded, thinking that Zhang Zhou would use the weapon againWhen the embroidered spring knife was placed in Wang Mingshan's hand, Wang Mingshan walked towards the inner courtyard with the embroidered spring knife.

But just when passing through the moon gate.

Wang Mingshan still looked back at Zhang Zhou. This time, Zhang Zhou caught the same vague attachment from Xiao Nizi’s eyes, which made Zhang Zhou feel that she was not without her. Heartless.

Zhang Zhou gave her an encouraging smile.

Wang Mingshan also nodded slightly, and then she walked towards the inner courtyard wearing the decent Feiyu suit, her clothes fluttering.

Only at this moment, Zhang Zhou felt that Wang Mingshan's heart felt a little warmer, thinking that the ice might melt one day.

After Zhang Zhou watched Wang Mingshan enter the inner courtyard, he didn't think about doing anything.

When Wang Yue died, he was not too sad or regretful, but more felt a sense of powerlessness that "God's will cannot be violated".

Not long after, someone came to visit, but it was Jiang Dezhong who came shamelessly, and what he mentioned was just a bid to rebuild the wood and stone materials of the Piantou Pass.

"I didn't win, and for some reason, so many people suddenly came out to bid together this time. The prices were not as good as others, and I could only watch the business fall by the wayside." Jiang Dezhong sighed in front of his son-in-law.

Zhang Zhou narrowed his eyes and said, "You don't want me to help you get your business back, do you?"

"No." Jiang Dezhong said, "I am willing to admit defeat, but before After buying a batch, it seems that the wood and stone materials in the capital will plummet again, so I will use them to pay tribute to the court."

Zhang Zhou had no intention of discussing this with Jiang Dezhong.

"Xian son-in-law, I'm just curious. With your current identity and status, it's easy to win that business. If you don't make money, why bother?" Jiang Dezhong said, "But you got it for free." Merchants from the south, but this time many companies are bidding together, and I heard that some have accumulated a lot of wood and stone, and they may suffer heavy losses." Zhang Zhou said, "Don't pay attention to the coal mines in Xishan. But you always want to do some side business and cause trouble for me, right?"

"Haha." Jiang Dezhong was also quite embarrassed.

Obviously he also knew that he had caused a lot of chaos to his son-in-law.

Jiang Dezhong said, "Xian son-in-law, actually I am here. There is someone who wants to ask you something. It is the Chen family who sells salt in the south of the Yangtze River. It has nothing to do with you, right? I heard that the Chen family has been under the guise of Cheng Guo recently. The banner of the Duke is very close to the merchants from Huizhou. An Bianhou recently appeared in Duke Cheng’s family, and I heard that he is one of yours.”

Zhang Zhou frowned and said, “She was the one who stole it.” "I've lost your business."

"Hey, no." Jiang Dezhong said with a sarcastic smile, "So I said this woman will not have any good results if she becomes the head of the family. I heard that she usually goes out to buy wood and stone when she loses her fortune. In the end, the bid was still too high. For those who had not competed with the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce, the Huizhou Chamber of Commerce really spent a lot of money this time. They did not even make a profit, as if they were just sending money to the imperial court.”

"I didn't steal your business, why did you ask her?" Zhang Zhou said coldly.

Jiang Dezhong said "I thought that since we had done business before, we wouldn't make things worse for each other, but if she has nothing to do with you, then I have nothing to avoid. "

Zhang Zhou frowned and said, "So you are going to add insult to injury."

"Chang" Jiang Dezhong said with disdain, "You are using me to add insult to injury at this time. The price of wood and stone this year is really up and down." It's hard to figure out. I have to find a way to push out all the wood and stone materials quickly. I won't do this business anymore. As for the Chen family who loves it to death, I don't bother to care about it. ”

“Yeah. "Zhang Zhou nodded.

Jiang Dezhong smiled and asked, "But it is said that the coal produced is very good. Can we also sell a batch indirectly?"

Zhang Zhou said, "I am a coal mine worker." Boss, you are just mining for me, everything must be arranged by me. Father-in-law, let me make it clear to you, if I find out that you are using coal in private, I will not show mercy. Your Majesty asked me to mine coal mines in Xishan, which is a hugely profitable thing. Do you think that if you ask me to move the coal mines to my house, it will be used for making cannons for the court? While we are making money, we must take into account the interests of the court. ”

“Okay, okay. "Jiang Dezhong suddenly became very talkative again.

This also made Zhang Zhou feel that Old Jiang was just a philistine businessman.

There is no need to give Old Man Jiang any good looks, the more he With his condescending attitude, perhaps the more comfortable Old Man Jiang felt in his heart, the more uncomfortable he would look at the door.

After Wang Yue's death, there was no movement in the court today.

p>

Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng obviously kept the secret from the outside world. They had no idea whether they told the people close to them, and the ministers in the DPRK did not even think about the incident at Piantou Pass.

After that, Zhang Zhou attended two court meetings and did not mention anything about the Piantou Pass. However, once Zhu Youtang directly proposed to increase the expenditure on cannon casting.

It had already been done. It was agreed that Zhang Zhou was casting the cannon while the household department was doing the expenses and settlements. However, it seemed that Zhu Youtang had changed his mind and felt that this was not stable enough. In fact, this also showed that Zhu Youtang was uneasy in his heart. After all, he turned his head. After Guan lost Wang Yue, the entire northwest also lost its "spiritual leader." At this time, just bringing Qin Hong back would not play Wang Yue's role at all.

Zhu Youtang mentioned Zhu in the court. Regarding the matter of gunfire, I was about to reveal my inner thoughts.

Fortunately, it was Liu Jian who came forward to discuss the issue.

Zhu Youtang stopped talking.

p>

After the court meeting, Zhu Youtang called Zhang Zhou to Qianqing Palace, mainly to ask about the current progress of cannon casting.

"Bingkuan, Zhijie and the others have been away from Beijing for four weeks. It's been five days and I haven't arrived yet. After much thought, I still think it's more appropriate for you to go to Pianguan and take charge of the overall situation. But I am in Beijing, and you are actually indispensable. My heart has been messy these past two days. Sometimes I suddenly feel an inexplicable anger over the matter in the northwest, and I can’t contain it."

Zhang Zhou thought to himself, you are so angry.

Don’t be satisfied in some aspects, and start to feel a little restless and say youThere is no shortage of women to comfort you

If there was only one Queen Zhang, who would be the woman to comfort you

or make you angry

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, Occasionally, there will be anger. This is because you are restless. In fact, you don't have to worry too much. The walls of Piantou Pass are under construction. The Tatars will not dare to invade. Even if they do, the Ming Dynasty's defenders will be enough. Defend the invading enemy."

"Really?"

Zhu Youtang breathed a sigh of relief.

Probably only what Zhang Zhou said could comfort his heart that was like a deer.

Zhang Zhou said, "I usually have some inexplicable anger, but fortunately I have a way to resolve it, so I don't take everything to heart."

"Bing Bing "Kuan, what method did you use?"

Zhu Youtang seriously discussed with Zhang Zhou how to adjust his mood.

Zhang Zhou smiled and shook his head, meaning he couldn't say it.

Dai Yi said anxiously, "Mr. Zhang, why are you so secretive?"

Zhu Youtang raised his hand to interrupt Dai Yi and sighed, "Bingkuan, actually If you don’t say it, I probably know it, so I can only say that it’s a family-by-family situation.”

In this matter, Zhu Youtang is still very flexible, and he is not a dim-witted person after all. people.

He could also guess that Zhang Zhou would definitely tell him if he had a method. Since he didn’t tell him, it meant that Zhang Zhou’s method was not suitable for him. What Zhang Zhou had, he, the emperor, did not have. One son and one daughter, there is no fundamental difference in lifestyle

The biggest difference is that Zhang Zhou's house is very lively, while he only has one Queen Zhang.

"Bingkuan, I have one more thing to do here. It involves the salary of the past few years. I asked someone to check the warehouses of the inner palace and found that there are still many spare silk cloths, tea leaves and other tributes. , Most of them have been accumulated over the years, and it is useless to stay in the palace."

"The imperial court has incurred a lot of expenditures in the past two years, and the military pay in the northwest cannot be guaranteed. I heard that many officials in the capital are having a hard time. In order to continue, I want to give away the remaining money in the treasury and give it to you."

Zhang Zhou thought to himself that this was a favor from the emperor to help him win over the ministers.

The salary of the Ming Dynasty was divided into salary meters and salary notes. Especially after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the "salary note folding method" was implemented.

The true color is salary rice, which can be received basically every month. The true color is divided into monthly rice, folded silk rice, and folded silver rice.

The moon is equal to one stone regardless of the size of the official.

Fold silk, one piece of silk is worth six coins of silver.

Six cents of silver are equivalent to one meter and one stone.

The folding colors are divided into natural-colored banknotes and silk-folded banknotes. One piece of silk is worth twenty shi, and one piece of cloth is worth ten shi.

For the first-class ministers in the imperial court, only 30% of their true salary is paid out, which means that only 30% of their monthly salary is paid in real terms. The remaining salary is likely to be in arrears for several years, or even until they retire and return home. Can't even send it out.

But to live in the capital, officials themselves have official residences, so the problem is notIt is large, but not everyone has an official residence, and they always need to rent a house, especially those who bring their families with them, and those who have parents to support

The cost of living in the capital is so high, relying on The little rice per month can barely feed the family, but if you want to buy a new official uniform or go out to socialize, it will be really hard to come by.

Officials of the Ming Dynasty did not openly bribe bribes such as Bing Jing and Tan Jing. There were private bribes, but one Li Guang's bribery could affect such a big case. This also shows that the Ming Dynasty was very concerned about corruption and bribery. Due to the strict governance and the fact that many people working in the yamen did not have much real power, naturally there were few bribes.

Zhang Zhou said, "Your Majesty, you pay salaries to your officials. Why do you want to do this kind of favor with me? I dare not accept it."

Zhu Youtang smiled and said, "It's better to give it to you. In fact, these can be folded or not. I originally had to wait for the Ministry of Finance to fold the salary bills, but now that the government has more than enough, I will hand it over to you. The Dongchang has done an inventory of all the surplus, and first started with the backlog of the past few years. The salary money will be exchanged. If there is any shortage, wait until later. Don’t take it too seriously, just treat it as an errand for me.”

Zhu Youtang. He wanted to sell Zhang Zhou a favor, so Zhang Zhou accepted it.

At the court meeting the next day, Zhu Youtang directly asked Dai Yi to announce the matter: "Use Jiazi and other warehouses in the inner palace to store various sundries and give them to the civil and military officials in Beijing, and they will be allowed to live in the seventh to tenth year of Hongzhi." "One year's salary banknotes are discounted."

The general meaning is that this time only the salary banknotes before the first year are discounted, and those in the 12th year of Hongzhi are not counted.

The officials present were very happy when they heard this.

Being an official in the Ming Dynasty was all a bunch of bad checks that could not be cashed. Now suddenly the bad checks are about to be cashed, and I feel as happy as picking up money. No matter how righteous and righteous I usually say, But the money he got was real.

After the meeting.

Xiao Jing, who was arranged to receive the discounted salary bills, was immediately surrounded by the ministers.

"Eunuch Xiao, I don't know how much discount I can get"

The ministers also know that it would be good if they can redeem it now. Don't expect to get 10%, even if it is only 10%, it is still a profit. of.

Some people are asking, "If the salary money was transferred out before, can I still get it back?"

Xiao Jing first answered the question of the latter "dear brother", "What should I do?" Those who want to exchange salary banknotes must first have the salary banknotes in hand, otherwise there will be no need to talk about it."

"How much is the exchange rate?"

A group of people are still asking.

Xiao Jing said, "As I said, we have to wait until the warehouse inventory is completed before making a decision. Who knows how many companies in total have also reported the amount of salary banknotes to be exchanged, and they will all be exchanged according to the proportion. At that time, except The salary bills that can be exchanged for rice and silver must be brought as well. The more you report, the more money you will get." Zhang Zhou watched from the side.

I thought, fortunately, I am just selling favors, and the specific contact depends on Xiao Jing.

If I had to do everything, I would be exhausted. pleaseKeep in mind to collect, the latest and fastest website is free to read without anti-theft

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