As a well-known figure among the Dazhen scholars, Yin Zhaoxian has now come to a time when he needs to pay great attention to his image. After taking office and getting to know Yu Wanzhou for a while, he realized that he could not show certain emotions at will. .
Even in front of his wife, Yin Zhaoxian still couldn’t express his depression too obviously, for fear that his wife would be too worried. But at this moment, he had no such worries in front of Ji Yuan. It was a rare opportunity to vent his emotions.
“Huh… let Mr. Ji laugh!”
At this moment, Yin Zhaoxian was a little agitated. It seemed that he had received a lot of anger in the officialdom, even for a person with a stable anger like him. Of course, it may be that he had accumulated too much anger for a long time, and he would let it out now. Just be excited.
Ji Yuan held the teacup and did not drink it. He just blew the tea in the teacup gently. In fact, the breeze blew up and stirred up the air in the room, dissipating some of the depression in his friend’s body and calming him down. few.
“Master Yin, it seems that this prosperous place in Wanzhou is not as good as other places imagined?”
Hearing that Mr. Ji finally called himself “Master Yin” again, Yin Zhaoxian felt inexplicably better, and then sighed.
“Hey… Mr. Ji doesn’t know something. Wanzhou is indeed a prosperous place, but some people are full of wealth and some are hungry. The former is less and the latter is more. It’s simply sick! Can you imagine a small and upright… …”
As Yin Zhaoxian spoke, he stretched out his right hand and pinched the tip of his little finger, almost shaking his hand and gesticulating towards Ji Yuan.
“Such a small official who is as big as sesame seeds and mung beans actually holds fifty hectares of mulberry fields in his hands. How did he get this field? Does he think he can have so much in his life?”
Yin Zhao took a breath, picked up the tea cup, took a sip, and then added something.
“What’s even more annoying is that among these fifty hectares of land, there are at least a thousand acres of permanent land, which is the lifeblood of the people!”
Ji Yuan frowned. Now that he thought about it, the Wanzhou area he passed through when he was riding in the clouds did have many mulberry forests and little grain land. It seemed that it was not that everyone was growing mulberry and raising silkworms to get rich together, but that the people’s fields were being destroyed. Merged?
Perhaps in the beginning, farmers were lured with the benefits of growing mulberry and raising silkworms. Then, after suffering losses due to various natural disasters or man-made disasters, they bought the mulberry fields at seemingly “fair” prices. Now it is mulberry fields. Few, this kind of industry is even more difficult for the common people to grasp.
You can see the big from the small. In Lishun Prefecture and even in the entire Wanzhou, many farmers and people have very little land that truly belongs to them. If they want to have enough to eat, most of the time they have no choice but to rely on the landlord. But farming is okay, and growing mulberries is okay. Sericulture does not require that many manpower. Most of the benefits farmers can get go to rich families. In addition, they have to bear taxes, and life is very difficult.
And more importantly, the farmers who help Gaomen raise silkworms and make silk can only be paid in coins. If Wanzhou doesn’t have enough food, they have to buy it from other places, and when buying food, they have to go through profit exploitation by many traders, and the price It is not the farmers who can determine the fluctuations. Who has the final say on the fluctuation of grain prices? Naturally, it is linked to natural disasters, but it is also the decision of wealthy businessmen and officials.
What should I do if I don’t have enough money? Mortgage the property for the coming year!
Listening to Yin Zhaoxian’s analysis, even Ji Yuan, a “fairy” in the eyes of ordinary people, couldn’t help but have a creepy feeling. Over the years, the farmers in Wanzhou have been devoured bit by bit bit by bit. The surviving fields are like silkworms in Wanzhou eating mulberry leaves…
Yin Zhaoxian drank the tea in the tea cup and made a cold sarcastic comment.
“Everyone in Dazhen, my country, says: Bingzhou’s grain is Wanzhou’s silk, huh, but how can the situation of the people in Wanzhou be compared to that of Bingzhou?”
Ji Yuan couldn’t help but nodded. He had stayed in Bingzhou for quite some time. Although he only practiced in Yunshan most of the time, every time the rice harvest season came in Bingzhou, the cheers of the busy farmers would be heard. I also heard a lot of jokes.
“So Master Yin is taking action there?”
Yin Zhaoxian shook his head.
“If I can really see everyone move, why bother to be so depressed? In the past two years since I came to Wanzhou, I first carefully observed the people’s sentiments without showing any attitude. As I got to know Lishun Mansion and Wanzhou more and more, I also I understand more and more that this is something that can affect the whole body. Even though it is just a haircut for me, I can’t easily touch it!”
Although Ji Yuan doesn’t understand officialdom, his friend’s words are enough to show that Master Yin still has a good understanding of officialdom. He is by no means an officialdom fool, and he has let go of some worries in his heart.
“Master Yin is in the position of magistrate, and he has nothing to do with the court, but he is so afraid of it?”
As Ji Yuan spoke, he also picked up the teapot and refilled the tea for his friend, just like they had spent all afternoon chatting with each other in the courtyard of Ju’an Pavilion.
Yin Zhaoxian has calmed down now, and as if he is calculating his fate, he does not feel restrained, so he picks up the tea and drinks it.
“Although over the years, the imperial inspection envoys have said that nothing happened in Wanzhou, but this alone is not enough. I am afraid that there are also deep-rooted interests involved in the court. Lishun Mansion and the entire Wanzhou have a lot to do with it. ! ”
Yin Zhaoxian’s speech at this moment is completely like a veteran official who has been in officialdom for a long time, rather than a rookie official who has only been promoted from the top position for a few years.
Although Ji Yuan felt uncomfortable with the people of Wanzhou, after the exchange, he was not too worried about his friend, so he asked again as if he was teasing, but there was no teasing tone.
“Then Master Yin was sent to Wanzhou. Don’t the interest groups here regard you as a thorn in their side?”
“It’s not a thorn in the side, but fear is unavoidable, especially when Yin just took office, he was on guard day and night. Haha, now that I think about it, it’s really ridiculous!”
Yin Zhaoxian changed the subject when he said this.
“However, although Yin came to carefully observe the public sentiment, he did not take any unnecessary actions. He looked like he was only minding his own affairs, which also made them relax. Now the officials of Lishun Prefecture and even Wanzhou think that Yin A certain person with a high rank of three yuan and a high rank of eight buckets was sent to Wanzhou to be gilded. Sooner or later he will be promoted to Kyoto, and he doesn’t want anything to happen during his tenure. He is a stable master!”
“It’s ironic to say that since then, more and more people have come to give gifts to Yin, and their positions have become more and more popular from small households to high-end households.”
“Oh? The gifts are all valuable?”
Ji Yuan reached out and touched the teapot, causing the tea to become a suitable temperature again, and refilling his cup for himself and his friend.
“It’s so valuable, or in other words, a big part of it is money after all! The silver is in vain and the gold is bright. After all, everyone is optimistic that I, Yin Zhaoxian, will rise step by step, and I might become a palace in the future. New backer.”
Yin Zhaoxian smiled and said something jokingly to Ji Yuan.
“Yin will not refuse these gifts to anyone who comes, so he accepts them all!”
When Ji Yuan heard this, he didn’t show it on the surface, but he was stunned for a moment in his heart, but he immediately realized something. He still had confidence in his friend’s character. This confidence came from his understanding of Master Yin, and also It comes from the pure and concentrated aura of righteousness in Master Yin’s body at this moment.
“Why, Master Yin plans to pay tribute first, then fight, and then settle the scores?”
“My parents are the ones who gave birth to me, and they know me well! I remember every gift clearly, every time, every time!”
It was rare for Yin Zhaoxian to be unpredictable in front of his friends at this moment.
“If there is anyone in the whole Dazhen government and the public who hates this matter the most except me, Yin Zhaoxian, then it is none other than the current Holy Emperor.”
Ji Yuan looked at Yin Zhaoxian, shook his head and sighed.
“According to what Ji knows, the old emperor has never forgotten the original auspiciousness, and is now preparing for a water and land ceremony, preparing to summon ‘famous people and experts’ from all walks of life in Dazhen to participate. It is difficult to say how many of his thoughts can be tied to Wan. State.”
Yin Zhaoxian didn’t have any special expression other than frowning, let alone saying that his friend’s tone was rebellious.
Ji Yuan smiled and continued talking leisurely.
“He is the key point of the Great Zhen Qi, and enjoys the honor of thousands of people. It is possible to prolong his life, but if he wants to seek immortality, unless he can give up his position, it is impossible to grasp it with both hands like he does. ”
Yin Zhaoxian is not entangled in this issue either.
“The Holy Emperor may no longer be young and powerful, but he will not be indifferent to the matter of Wanzhou, and there is also an ambitious King of Jin involved in this matter. As early as half a year ago, I had passed the secret report of His Highness the King of Jin. Sheng Ting didn’t say much, he just told the gift givers about my hush money, Mr. Ji can guess how much it is.”
Ji Yuan saw Mrs. Yin like this and thought, I might as well take a higher guess, so he said.
“Fifty thousand taels of silver?”
Yin Zhaoxian shook his head.
“No, no!”
“One hundred thousand taels?”
Seeing that Master Yin was still shaking his head, Ji Yuan spoke immediately.
“Fifty thousand taels of gold?”
“Mr. Ji guesses again, the things Yin got are yellow and white, and they are rare antiques.”
Ji Yuan grinned, counted his fingers with his right hand hidden in his sleeve, and then made a slightly surprised sound.
“There are actually 210,000 taels of gold!?”
This accurate data made Yin Zhao stunned for a moment before he nodded and answered.
“Yes, look for Shuyuan www.zhaoshuyuan.com. In a few years, if all the treasures are included, it should be worth about more than two million taels of silver. Hum, it will almost be worth what Wanzhou turns over to the national treasury in half a year. New Year’s money!”
“I am the prefect of Lishun Prefecture. Although I have some potential, I have received so many benefits during my two-year term. How much money do you think they have deducted from the imperial court? Can the emperor not be angry? ”
Yin Zhaoxian sneered when he said this.
“The secret letter from King Jin said that after receiving my secret message, the Holy Emperor smashed all the favorite tea cups in the imperial study!”
I have grown old and become fatuous. Although many emperors in the past dynasties have been like this, Emperor Yuan De did not think that he would be one of them. Now that he found that he was really fooled by the people below, he felt angry. Just imagine.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan didn’t know that his friend had already made a plan in his mind, and he felt half relieved and half emotional.
‘Master Yin is no longer an official child! ’
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