Chapter 1461 Xinzi scroll set

Huang Ruliang also had a bitter look on his face. He subconsciously rubbed his temples and sighed: "Why don't I have any idea? The degree of drought in Shaanxi has been rare in the past ten years, and the situation in the prefectures of North Zhili is not much better. Baoding and Zhending prefectures The situation is worrying, and the situation in your hometown is not optimistic either, right?"

Wang Yongguang's face was gloomy, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "I received a letter from my relatives back home. I'm afraid the situation in Daming Prefecture is worse than Zhending and Baoding. Many people are already making plans to flee."

Wang Yongguang is from Dongming County, Daming Prefecture. It is located in Daming Prefecture and the southernmost point of the entire North Zhili, at the junction of North Zhili and Shandong and Henan provinces.

Huang Ruliang's face turned even more ugly. The northern provinces had been suffering from drought for the past ten years, but this year it was particularly severe. He caught up with it just after he took office. It must be said that he was not very lucky.

Drought means refugees, which means the need for tax reductions and exemptions, and even means a large amount of relief. Although the Jingtong Ercang case has been solved, and a lot of money can even be collected, the food deficit is actually real. Yes, money is still needed to make up for it, which means that food prices may rise sharply this year, and the collected money will be greatly reduced if converted into food.

The Ministry of Household Affairs has stepped up its efforts to clean up the specific amount of the deficit after the Jingtong Ercang case, and has begun to purchase grain from Huguang and Jiangnan. Even if it is old grain from previous years, you must at least have enough reserves, otherwise it will really come this winter and next spring. At that time, there was not enough food to cover the bottom. Once a large number of refugees poured into the capital, it would be fatal.

"Youfu, do you think our week is not going well this year? The drought is so serious, the war in the southwest has made no progress, and countless grains and money have been wasted. The abolition of the three-sided military towns has also caused such a big shock, but our treasury has It’s all empty, what can I do?”

The relationship between Huang Ruliang and Wang Yongguang was pretty good. There was not much interaction between the two people before. One was the leader of the northern scholars, and the other was the leader of the Fujian scholars. There was discord between the north and the south. In theory, they restricted each other, but as for In the current situation, although the Ministry of Revenue has a high position, it also faces various difficulties and has to work together to tide over the difficulties.

To realize the intentions of the emperor and the cabinet, the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Household Affairs, one in charge of people and the other in charge of money, are indispensable.

But the current manager can talk a lot, but he is short of money. When he is the Minister of Household Affairs and the Minister of Household Affairs, everyone is getting angry. Every department is asking for money, and wherever they find it difficult, they will all focus on the household. Ministry, how to strategize this depends on your ability as a minister.

In this situation, Huang Ruliang and Wang Yongguang can only work together to endure this difficult situation.

Feng Ziying was summoned today, that is to say, the Shuntian government office agreed in the previous meeting to hand over one million taels of silver before the end of June. Now the situation is becoming more and more difficult. Huang Ruliang and Wang Yongguang intend to increase the amount, hoping to be able to 1.2 million taels will be collected from sales at the end of June, 1.3 million taels will be collected at the end of September, and the remainder will be collected after sales are completed before the end of the year.

"Who says it's not?" Wang Yongguang also had a serious look on his face, "I came to Ziying today to have a good talk with him. I heard that there were many people involved in the Tongcang case. If the Shuntian Government Office and Long Jinwei can If you work hard and dig deeper, you may not be able to recover more. These are all accumulated by the imperial court with hard work, but they are colluded by these morons and profiteers internally and externally. Could it be said that these profiteers just withdraw some stolen money and let it go?"

Huang Ruliang's eyes moved and he looked at Wang Yongguang, "I heard that the emperor and the cabinet ministers meant that the most important thing is to have the Three Laws Division review and finalize the case..."

"In principle, this should be the case, but extraordinary things happen in emergencies. The current national situation is so difficult, why should we be so rigid? If we can get more money back to solve the problem, then officials will be fine. Can the grain merchants consider it?"

Wang Yongguang's words made Huang Ruliang frown slightly, "Replacing law with punishment? Isn't this inappropriate? Besides, it's more likely to attract criticism from the outside world than making donations, right?"

Wang Yongguang sighed, "So I also feel embarrassed, but the establishment of Huaiyang Town cannot be postponed. The war in the southwest is costing every day, and the situation in the northwest is turbulent. Whoever can take charge, even Feng Tang, if you don't give He has three and a half million taels of silver as a base, but he is also a clever woman who cannot make a meal without rice..."

While the two were sighing, they heard someone saying hello outside, "Master Feng is here. The two masters have been waiting for you inside for a long time."

"Oh, I'm not late, am I? I rushed here as soon as I received the invitation from the two adults. It must be a good thing that the household department is recruiting." Feng Ziying walked in happily and quickly, "I have met the two adults."

"Ziying, Shuntian Mansion is really in the limelight this time. The Tongcang case is famous far and wide. As far as I know, Shuntian Mansion has never handled such a beautiful case in the past twenty years. Mr. Huang was still talking about it before. Now that the Ministry of Finance’s treasury is empty, it depends on the performance of your Shuntian Mansion.”

Wang Yongguang, Huang Ruliang and Feng Ziying are all familiar with each other, so they are not polite when talking to each other. They are all northern scholars. Huang Ruliang was the Minister of Rites who was in charge of the affairs of the Hanlin Academy when Feng Ziying was in the Hanlin Academy, and was considered his superior.

"This is only possible because of the great support of Emperor Hongfu and the strong support of Long Jinwei and the Metropolitan Procuratorate. Since the imperial court has agreed to recover one million taels of silver before the end of June, everyone in Shuntian Mansion is risking their lives. We have to get this thing done." Feng Ziying had long expected that these two people would come to her for trouble, so she hurriedly tried to silence each other first.

How could Huang Ruliang and Wang Yongguang fall for Feng Ziying's trick? Huang Ruliang said unceremoniously: "Ziying, people in the Ming Dynasty don't speak secretly. One million taels of silver won't do it. Before the end of the month, you have to get one hundred and fifty for my household department." One hundred thousand taels, and another 1.5 million taels before the end of September, this is the bottom line!"

Wang Yongguang was also shocked by Huang Ruliang's temporary "price increase". Wasn't it originally agreed to be 1.2 million taels? Why did it suddenly increase to another three hundred thousand taels?

Seeing Huang Ruliang give him a wink, Wang Yongguang took back the words that came to his lips and waited to see how Huang Ruliang negotiated with Feng Ziying.

As expected, Feng Ziying was also startled by Huang Ruliang's big mouth, "Master Huang, this is not in line with what was agreed at the court meeting. Didn't we agree on one million taels? I need to do my best to see if I can get it together." Now, the price has suddenly increased by 500,000 yuan. Where can I get it? I have everything, a house, a farm, a shop, but it will take time to realize it, and if I want another 1.5 million taels in September, that is even more impossible. Beijing I think the situation over there in the warehouse is quite awkward now..."

Huang Ruhao calmly said: "Ziying, the situation is different now. The northwest is in turmoil and the situation is worrying. Chen Jingxuan submitted his resignation. The imperial court needs a prestigious general to stabilize the northwest, but no matter who goes, they will face a situation of arrears of pay. If the imperial court How can he stabilize the situation if he cannot prepare three to five million taels of silver for his backup?"

Feng Ziying was startled and then immediately said: "This has nothing to do with me. Shuntian Mansion is only handling it in accordance with the requirements set by the court meeting. You can't just say that if there is any shortfall, Shuntian Mansion will cover it, right? The amount involved is only so much, so we can't give in, right? "

"Ziying, I believe you can understand the difficulties faced by the court. Huaiyang town costs money, the war in the southwest costs money, and the stability of the northwest costs money. What's more troublesome is that you have also seen that this year there is a severe drought in the north, and Shaanxi Especially, the Ministry of Revenue needs to prepare 500,000 shi of grain for Shaanxi as an emergency reserve..."

Huang Ruliang's tone was a little low and depressing. Feng Ziying was also shocked when he heard it, "There is a severe drought in Shaanxi, Mr. Huang, I'm afraid it's not 500,000 shi of food that can solve the problem, right?"

"Of course, Brother Youfu and I are also discussing. With the tax reduction and exemption for this year and next, the food relief will only be 500,000 dan..." Huang Ruliang sighed, "I also want to give more, but the imperial court is different. We owe everything, so we are stretched thin."

Of course Feng Ziying knew that Huang Ruliang and Wang Yongguang were trying to make themselves miserable in front of him, so that they could "exploit their potential" and spend more time on the Jingtong Ercang case, and they were even tighter on time. He deliberately shied away. But he was moved by Huang Ruliang's mention of the severe drought in Shaanxi. The peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty in the previous life was partly caused by the severe drought in northern Shaanxi. The people were in dire straits, which eventually turned into a sky full of beacon fires. The threat of climate change in the Little Ice Age was too great. Well, if Huang Ruliang is unlucky, the severe drought in Shaanxi will really trigger a great uprising, and the Zhou Dynasty will no longer be able to withstand such a torment.

Seeing Feng Ziying hesitate to say anything, Huang Ru felt happy. This guy was actually deceived by him. It seemed that it was really feasible to tap his potential.

"Master Huang, of course I am willing to share the worries of the imperial court, but this step you have taken is too big, and I am really not sure." Feng Ziying thought for a while and then said: "I expect that I can find a way to sell more than 200,000 taels of silver at most. Come on, this is already the limit, and the situation will be similar in September..."

"Okay, then it's settled, 1.2 million taels by the end of June and 1.3 million taels by September!" Huang Ruliang agreed, "Ziying, a gentleman's words are hard to follow, but I will follow your instructions. It’s just based on this standard, it’s not even close, please!”

Huang Ruliang stood up and bowed. Feng Ziying was so frightened that she quickly stood up and returned the greeting: "Sir, this is for public service, why do you need to do this? Students can't afford it."

"Ziying, who is not serving the public good? He is in his position to pursue his own affairs. From this position, he should work together to plan state affairs." Huang Ruliang waved his hand and motioned for Feng Ziying to sit down, "I was talking to Youfu earlier. , the chaos in the northwest makes it difficult for the court to select people, I’m afraid it will fall on your father.”

Feng Ziying was shocked again. Today was a series of surprises. "My father is naturally duty-bound when the court needs it. It's the same everywhere, but we can't ignore it in Liaodong. Nurhaci is particularly dangerous."

 (End of this chapter)