Brocade tears

On the second day of March, on the east side of Hubu Street outside Qianbu Corridor of the Imperial City, Daming Hubu Yamen Office.It was not until the beginning of the day, and Zhou Jintong had already been under the Langfang gate opposite the household department for half a quarter of an hour.In the cold spring, he was rubbing his hands and stomping his feet, and the guards guarding the gate looked at him, feeling a little contemptuous of him in his heart.These guards, standing in the cold wind for two hours at a time, are not as helpless as this person.If it weren't for seeing him as an officer of Jinyiwei, he would have ridiculed him a long time ago.

It has been more than five years since the Holy Majesty did not go to court, and the court meeting came and went.I didn't go to court on the first day of this month, and I didn't go to court on the second day of the first day today.So at the beginning of the Baiguan Mao, they went to Dianmao outside the Meridian Gate, and then they all returned to their subordinate government departments to eat at the court, and then began their duties for the day, which has gradually become a habit now.The timing of the household registration is not so strict. If you arrive at the Ministry within [-] hours, you can do it, and it is not considered late.After Zhou Jintong arrived at the gate of the household department and waited, he could still see individual household officials rushing to Dianmao.Some people ordered Mao and used the morning food, then left the government office and went on a business trip.A government department like the Ministry of Households does have its own particularity. Like the Jinyiwei, its officials often travel abroad.

After a while, Zhou Jintong saw Meng Kuang's figure.She came on foot from the south, still dressed in a brocade-clothed guard with the face of an Asura ghost, and her cold eyes and eyebrows made people feel chills at the bottom of their hearts.

"Baihu, I have seen Baihu." Zhou Jintong hurriedly stepped forward and bowed his hands.

Meng Kuang nodded to him.

Zhou Jintong did not perform well yesterday, and Guo Dayou almost sued Coach Liu.Coach Liu is his most respected master, and he doesn't want his master to lose face in front of Guo Dayou because of himself.So don't dare to slack off today, and come early.But when he saw Meng Kuang, he couldn't help thinking of the woman who was locked up in her house.The beauty of that woman was the only one he had ever seen in his life.As soon as I saw it, I couldn't forget it. I tossed and turned last night, couldn't sleep well, and I had a lot of evil thoughts. When I woke up in the morning, I only felt top-heavy and weak.

He looked at Meng Kuang, hesitated and asked:

"Baihu, did you sleep well last night?"

Meng Kuang nodded.

"You...have a good breakfast?"

Meng Kuang looked at him inexplicably, wondering what question this man was asking.

"Oh... Baihu, let me tell you straight." After all, he was a soldier, unable to hide his words, "That woman, Li Huier, how long has she been in your house?"

Meng Kuang raised two fingers to indicate that it had been two days and two nights.At this moment, she already had a good understanding of what Zhou Jintong was thinking in his mind, and she immediately felt a sense of vigilance, which also implied a third of displeasure.

"From now on, how do you settle her down? It's not relative, but since we've caught her back, it's not easy to let her go." Zhou Jintong also understood that Meng Kuang should have seen through his thoughts at this moment. But he still couldn't speak directly, so he could only tentatively advance the conversation bit by bit.

Meng Kuang seemed to sneer, and made a gesture of cutting his throat, meaning that if necessary, he could be killed directly to save trouble.Of course, she expresses this purpose on purpose, in order to scare the kid, tell him to shut up quickly, and stop talking about this topic.

Zhou Jintong's face turned pale, Xu believed Meng Kuang's lifelike killing intent, and hurriedly said:

"No way, Baihu. This woman is also pitiful, let's not increase the killing karma in vain."

Meng Kuang's eyes showed full of banter, and Zhou Jintong couldn't help but feel relieved when he saw it, and smiled bitterly in his heart: So Baihu is also a person who can make jokes, and this joke is really quite characteristic of Baihu.

"Baihu, my subordinates talk too much, I would like to ask you, are you married?"

Meng Kuang wanted to hit this kid a little bit, he was so dumb, he didn't know how to stop talking.She stared at the kid, but didn't answer, just waiting for him to finish.

"If you are not yet married, or if you already have someone who is talking about marriage, it will be inconvenient for her to be in your house. Miss Meng is not in good health, and she is already tired from taking care of Lingji Hall. It is really a burden to take care of her. I At home..." He continued with a muffled head, but before he finished speaking, Guo Dayou's voice suddenly sounded behind him:

"I kept you two waiting, come in with me."

Guo Tou appeared at the door of the household department at some time, Zhou Jintong was taken aback, and quickly shut up.Meng Kuang gave him a hard look. This kid is really lucky. If he continues to talk, he might just greet him with his fist.

Zhou Jintong was frightened by Meng Kuang's sharp look, and couldn't help but groan, secretly thinking that he guessed right, Baihu was indeed interested in that woman.

Collecting their thoughts, they followed Guo Dayou into the household department.There are many methods of Jin Yiwei's investigation, including spying without direct contact with the subject of investigation, and semi-open investigation like the current one that directly penetrates into the subject of investigation.However, this investigation was a surprise attack, and Jin Yiwei had never greeted the household department before.Therefore, after entering the door, Guo Dayou directly showed the Jinyiwei token to Men Yan.Men Yan's complexion changed immediately, he walked out very respectfully, and personally led Guo Dayou and the three of them to the expert.

"Three superiors, which department are you visiting today?" Men Yan asked cautiously.

"We would like to chat with the Qing officials in Huguang, Jiangxi, Shandong, and Zhejiang provinces. In addition, we would like to get the account books of the military storage warehouse and Guangying warehouse." Guo Dayou said very kindly.

Meng Kuang and his colleagues Zhou Jin didn't know anything about the content of the investigation today, and it was all decided by Guo Dayou.He is familiar with the situation of various departments in the DPRK and China, and also has unique insights into the current situation of the provinces in the country. The four provinces specially selected are all major grain-producing provinces and the main sources of military supplies.In addition, there is a Nanzhili with an independent household system. If you want to check, you have to adjust the files, which will alarm officials at the minister level.

Where could Menyan invite these superior officials, he could only bring the three of them to the reception hall of the Ministry of Accounts, pour tea and serve them, and then go to report.After about a cup of tea time, a third-rank civil servant who was over sixty years old hurried over with three fifth-rank civil officials and a sixth-rank civil servant.As soon as the third-rank civil servants in the lead crossed the threshold, they immediately bowed their hands with a smile and saluted, saying:

"The three are on business, I'm really sorry, I've been waiting for so long."

Guo Dayou got up, smiled and raised his hand in return:

"Lu Shilang, excuse me."

"Where is it, I will fully cooperate with the official visit. It's just that Yang Butang took the squad leader to check the warehouse earlier, so it's not surprising that he is not here now, so please invite the official."

The person who came was Lu Weizhen, the current left servant of the household department, whose name was Ruifeng.He is very old, and it is said that he has already handed over the notice, and if there are no accidents, he will retire this year.His superior is Yang Junmin, who is now the Minister of the Household Department, in charge of the storehouse.Yang Junmin happened to be away right now, so in order not to make Jin Yiwei suspicious, Lu Weizhen, the deputy head of the department, wanted to make it clear at the beginning.

"Oh, don't bother Yang Butang. I'm here today to look at the accounts of military rations in various places. The Holy One has been paying more attention to this these days." Guo Dayou said with a smile. He didn't want to disturb officials at the level of ministers today. I think his appearance still caused Hubu to be shocked.So he also quickly named the words, so that these household officials could have a mental preparation.Hearing his words, these officials knew that Jin Yiwei's arrival today was not unkind. Although their heartstrings were still tense, at least they did not have to worry about it.

"No problem, please come with me." Lu Weizhen said immediately.

Along the way, Lu Weizhen also introduced three fifth-rank officials and one sixth-rank civil servant to Guo Dayou and the others.Among them, three of the fifth-rank civil servants are from Zhejiang, Huguang, and Jiangxi respectively, and the sixth-rank civil official is the head of Shandong Qingli, who is acting on his behalf. It happens to be Meng Kuang's cousin, Zhao Ziyang. .

Of course, in the officialdom, Meng Kuang and Zhao Ziyang were very taboo about their relatives. Few people in the officialdom knew that they were cousins.Suddenly seeing Meng Kuang in his own government office today, although Zhao Ziyang was surprised, he was still able to maintain his composure and kept avoiding direct eye contact with Meng Kuang.Coincidentally, because of Meng Kuang's Asura's ghost face, several officials felt a little guilty in their hearts, and they didn't dare to look at her straight.This is the essence of Guo Dayou and Meng Kuang's partnership. With the god Meng Kuang sitting beside him, even if Guo Dayou smiles, it is scary and can have a very strong deterrent effect.

Meng Kuang maintained her ruthless face. Because she had lost many lives in her hands, there was a trace of evil spirit in her brows and eyes over the years, especially when she was dressed neatly in brocade clothes and guard equipment, this layer of evil spirit would naturally dissipate. Come out, let the timid people see it.

Her gaze fell on her cousin without a trace, and she thought to herself, what a coincidence, how could it be my cousin who came forward today, where did his superior go?

It just so happened that Guo Dayou also asked this question at this time, and Lu Weizhen replied:

"Fan Yuming, the official of Shandong Province, went to Shandong on a business trip to urge the collection of summer taxes. He just left a few days ago, and it will take three months to come back."

"Oh, I seem to have heard that banditry is very serious in Shandong this year. Is it possible that this year's summer tax will be difficult?"

"It's a clear lesson from above. It's true. At present, many local food chiefs in Shandong are very afraid of difficulties, and it is difficult to collect. So I sent Lang Zhong Fan to personally supervise the collection." Lu Weizhen replied with a sigh.

The summer tax is the first of the two season taxes in the Ming Dynasty. It mainly harvests wheat and involves the wheat-growing areas in the north.The latter is autumn grain, which harvests rice from the south, which is more important than summer tax.The head of grain is a large family of villagers selected and sent by each township to take on the responsibility of connecting the officials and the people.Since ancient times, the imperial power has not come down to the county, and self-government by the villagers is the governance method that the ancestors have always used.The government distributes the taxation and customs clearance of each tax area every year, and the food chief of each tax area must receive the customs inspection and coordination, and assign the task of urging tax collection.

At the beginning of Hongwu, the head of the grain, the head of the village, and the head of the Jia had their own division of labor. Distribute tax and food tasks to all grain households in the area.At that time, it was stipulated that the food chief must arrive at the capital to receive the survey and cooperation before the specified time every year.The so-called reconciliation is a two-part single-style document, with the official seal stamped in the middle of the seam, torn and cut out when used, and each party holds a piece of paper for future collation and reconciliation.Kanhe is obtained from the household department of the Neifu, and must be returned to the household department for cancellation after use.This kind of invention originated from the big air printing case in the early years of Hongwu, which greatly facilitated the operation of the government.

When it was time to pay taxes, the grain households paid the tax and grain to Jiashou, and Jiashou then paid the tax and grain to the head of the village. After the grain chief collected all the taxes and grains paid by the village chiefs under his jurisdiction, he was responsible for personally escorting the tax and grain to Beijing.At that time, the task of escorting was still shared by grain households taking turns to send out boats, vehicles, and animals.After the grain chief arrived in the capital, he would be personally interviewed by Emperor Hongwu, and it was a great honor to be heard from heaven.There are even those who have done a good job of collecting money, and are directly appointed as officials, and they are on the rise.At that time, the head of grain had great authority in the countryside, and even held the power of life and death.

Since Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Beijing, the distance to pay taxes and food in the southern tax-paying provinces has been greatly lengthened, the burden has increased year after year, and the people have suffered unspeakably.In order to save labor, the grain chief and the grain households no longer escorted the grain into Beijing in person, but handed it over to the army for escort, but they also had to make up for a certain amount of wasted and insufficient grain for the army, and the tax and grain burden began to increase sharply.The Guanling Kanhe was also changed from the head of grain to Beijing to receive it in person, and changed to the official decentralization, which opened the world of tax collectors from then on.If the head of grain does not enter Beijing, his status will drop greatly, and the collection of taxes and grain will become a chore. No one will take the initiative to be the head of grain, so he will be appointed by the government instead.During the Longqing period, land annexation became more and more serious. The royal family, eunuchs, and nobles took advantage of their privileges to occupy a large amount of land by means of donations, begging, and seizures.The position of head of grain was basically assumed by the domestic slaves of these dignitaries who stayed in the local area to manage the land in turn, which was called Pengchong.These people are also Lichang or Jiashou, who participated in drawing the local fish scale atlas.They are often inextricably linked with government tax collectors. When paying taxes and grains every year, they often do not pay in full. Coupled with layers of exploitation and deduction, the treasury is increasingly empty. Now there are serious arrears of taxes and grains in all major provinces across the country. In this situation, the government is helpless, which is a huge long-standing evil known to everyone in the ruling and opposition parties.

"One acre of official land is harvested with seven dou, and six dou will be sent to Huangzhou first, and only one dou will be kept for the marriage, so that people will come to live a long life." The people pay the rent, and every year the old rent is settled into a new debt." This kind of ballad is not known how much it is sung among the people.

Since Wanli, Zhang Juzheng, the former chief assistant, implemented the New Deal reform.Its core is - nuclear officials and peace of the people.The so-called verification of officials to reassure the people means first to verify the officials, and then to reassure the people.Suspend the law among the public, punish and reward, and uphold justice to invigorate the atmosphere.Therefore, the examination method and the one-whip method were implemented, which made Daming look completely new.In the past, the six departments and six divisions bypassed the cabinet and were directly responsible to the emperor. After the law was passed, the cabinet controlled the six divisions through the six divisions and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and the governors of the provinces took orders from the six divisions.The powers and responsibilities of the cabinet have been greatly strengthened, and the control power is not comparable to before.And the strict level-by-level assessment system makes officials at all levels dare not slack off in the slightest.A whip method re-measures the land of the whole country, draws a brand new and credible fish scale atlas, returns the land to the people, and makes the small people feel like a new life, but it deeply touches the interests of the powerful and powerful, and encounters great resistance, so that This policy is not fully implemented.At the same time, it created a new way to convert taxes and grains into silver for payment. Taxes and taxes were combined into one, and various miscellaneous levies were all classified into one. In the future, all taxes in each province must be converted into silver and paid. There are a lot of accumulated disadvantages of dignitaries and officials playing on taxes and grains.

However, this method has been criticized by many northern provinces, because the circulation of silver is more common in the southeastern provinces, but in the north, the circulation of silver is still insufficient, and it is still necessary to pay taxes with grain every year, which is also a last resort.In addition, since the implementation of the new law, new long-standing disadvantages have emerged. For example, some local governments still force farmers to work in corvee, some add additional taxes, set up small whips in addition to the whips, and add scales to fire consumption. Farmers are in trouble.

After Zhang Juzheng passed away, his successor Zhang Siwei overturned most of the New Deal in order to stabilize the government, and the results of the New Deal reform are gradually disappearing now.

Meng Kuang was thinking about the current tax system in his mind, and he followed Lu Weizhen to the warehouse where the ledgers were stored.Meng Kuang looked at the pile of account books that filled the whole room, and his head suddenly became dizzy.