Kingdom of Heaven and Han

Chapter 165
The Jiangbian restaurant in Xiangyang was named after Wang Xiaohun, and it is the largest restaurant in the prefecture.The restaurant faces the street in the south and Hanshui River in the north, where guests can enjoy the scenery while drinking.The supervisors, cooks, and servants in the store are all government employees, and their salaries are quite good.Since the restaurant opened, there have been a lot of customers every day.People with status in the city are proud to drink and eat here.

This morning, it wasn't time for dinner, so there should have been no business.But people kept coming in and sitting at the table.The servant next to him served some tea and then stepped aside.Several officials were busy, constantly counting the number of people.

Several guests sat around a table, drinking tea and chatting.

One said: "I heard that two Taiwei, Miao Fu and Liu Zhengyan, arrested the officials in Yangzhou, supported the new king, controlled the government, and made a mess at the top. At this time, if the court is in chaos, can the affairs of the world be sorted out?" ?”

After finishing speaking, he kept shaking his head there.

Another said: "Recently, I heard people say that there are Lu Xianggong and Zhang Xianggong in charge of the overall situation in Pingjiang, and there are two generals Liu Taiwei and Han Taiwei sending troops. Miao and Liu must not be able to resist the enemy. This chaos, It will settle down soon."

When the others heard this, they came up and asked who Lu Xianggong was, who Zhang Xianggong was, and who were the two generals.Discussing among themselves was extremely lively for a while.People here are far away from the court, but they are still very interested in court affairs.

The most recent major event in the world is the mutiny of Miao and Liu.After these days, it has spread all over the world, and no one knows it.However, outsiders don't know the specific situation in Yangzhou.You can only use your imagination and enjoy your mouth.

Suddenly a person said: "The government invited us here today, what's the matter?"

Hearing this, several people were startled, unable to speak.I only know that today the government recruited these big merchants from the city to the Jiangbian restaurant, but I don't know what they are here for.In the past few months, the society in Xiangyang Prefecture has been stable, and the government has launched many new businesses, and everyone has made money.

When everyone was chaotic, Chen Yuyi walked in.When I got to the front, I stopped and said in a loud voice: "I called you here today because I want to ask you. The day before yesterday, I received an order from the envoy Jun, saying that there are many things to do this year, and a lot of money. However, there are not many ways for the government to get money. Now it is inevitable that there will be some deficits. I remember that when the Zhizhi envoy came to govern Xiangyang, he said that the government collects taxes in clear text, and there is no increase or random collection. Now that the government has a deficit, it will be difficult. I can only invite you to come , help me."

The shopkeeper Lu below said: "The officials are joking. If you want money from us, you don't want to increase taxes!"

Chen Yuyi said: "No. Everyone, what you have said in the observation will never change! The observation is not a person who breaks his promise and gets fat. Now he is short of money, and to be honest, he can only rely on your help. The observation gives two methods, and it is up to you to choose."

Someone below asked: "I don't know what to do?"

Chen Yuyi said: "One way is to borrow money from you. I will give you an IOU with [-]% interest for six months. Don't worry, as long as you are here, you will never lose a penny. There is another way, you and the government If you have business dealings with the industry, you can pay money, and you can be regarded as the most distinguished customers of these industries. In the future, you will receive a [-]% discount on all purchases. Of course, this money must be paid every year. Moreover, you must advance some payment to the government. It will be repaid month by month.”

After Chen Yuyi finished speaking, there was a lot of discussion below, and they couldn't stop.

After thinking about it, Wang Xiaolie found that he had no capital now, and he said that he would not raise taxes on the common people, so it seemed that he could only borrow money.It's a pity that my time to rise is too short, and my credit is not high. I don't know if the people are willing to lend it to me.

Ordinarily, this is a national debt, and the interest rate should not be high.However, since my own credit has not been established, I can only calculate it according to the private interest at this time, which is [-]% of the annual interest.As long as these few months have passed, [-]% interest is nothing.

Looking at the crowd, Chen Yuyi's heart fluttered and he didn't know what they thought.To be honest, if Wang Xiaolie wants to borrow money, he can borrow it no matter what.Soft ones won't work, won't they come hard?But if you use strong means, you will damage your own credit.The government's credit is very valuable, once it is destroyed, it will be difficult to restore it.For some people, they feel that there are strong means available, and they will do things unscrupulously, which will eventually bankrupt their own credit.

After a cup of tea, someone below asked loudly: "Officer, how much do you want to borrow for this observation?"

Chen Yuyi said: "The most important thing is the salaries of the officials. There is really no money in cash. Roughly speaking, our Xiangyang Prefecture needs [-] yuan to be enough. To help other prefectures, it should be [-] yuan. "

"One hundred thousand?!" The people below gasped. "That's too much!"

Chen Yuyi sighed: "There is no way. If you don't find the money, many officials' families will not be able to open the pot. But don't worry, when the summer tax and autumn tax are collected, they will definitely pay back to you with interest!"

After hearing this, the members below began to discuss again.The voice was noisy and I couldn't hear what they were saying.

After a while, only one member stood up.He bowed his hands to Chen Yuyi: "Officials, in Xiatianying, there is a restaurant, a silk shop, and a gold and silver shop in the city. The family is a little bit rich. Just now the officials said that the observation is short of money. We discuss it. We should provide money to help. Who should we observe? When the Jin soldiers came, they brought the local soldiers to King Jingqin. Later, they guarded their hometown, but the thief Yang Jin rebelled, and the observation chased him all the way to the Han River, and wiped out Yang Jin. Without observation, how could we Don’t we have to let Yang Jin fish and meat? But, if it’s [-] guan, we can get it together, [-] guan is too much. How about this, [-] guan is our money to help the government, and the remaining [-] guan How about a loan?"

Hearing this, Chen Yuyi was stunned.After a while, he hurriedly said: "Okay, okay, what's wrong with this? It's rare that you are so generous, and the government appreciates it! I will report to observe clearly, and I will thank you in the future!"

Tian Yingdao: "Officials, we have eyesight and can see everything clearly. Since we observed Xiangyang, no one has caused trouble, the market is prosperous, and everyone is making money. At this time, it is already very rare. And observe the tax reduction and exemption. , don’t allow bad people to nourish our business, everyone will benefit a lot from it. If you are short of money for a while, I should wait and help.”

Chen Yuyi didn't know what to say for a moment.Originally, as an official of the Song Dynasty, he would not be too surprised by the current situation.When the Song Dynasty was founded, Taizu had a famous saying that wealth should be hidden in the people, and the money of these wealthy households was the money of the court at the critical moment.For example, when the Jin soldiers besieged the city, in order to let the Jin army retreat, the rich households in Kaifeng Mansion once donated a lot of money to the court.It is not uncommon for the government to donate money when the government is short of money.This has the characteristics of the times and cannot be compared with later generations.However, when Wang Xiaolie wrote the letter, according to his own experience, he felt that the matter was very difficult, and it was too serious, which made Chen Yuyi feel uncertain.If Wang Xiaolie doesn't stress, he won't be so nervous.

In Wang Xiaolie's impression, the so-called big households must be common people who are scheming and cunning.It is extremely difficult to get them to donate money and buy national bonds.But they don't know that society is developing, and rich households are not always able to do so.At least in the Northern Song Dynasty, many honest businessmen did not mind helping the government when it was difficult.

Businessmen and influential people do not completely coincide.At least in this era, it is not uncommon to get rich by doing business seriously without undergoing intense introversion and annexation.A few days ago, what Wang Xiaolie dealt with were mostly local snakes.If they are gone, businessmen's business will be easier to do.Psychologically, they recognized Wang Xiaolie.

Seeing that everyone was not resistant to borrowing money, Chen Yuyi was overjoyed.Instruct the restaurant to prepare a banquet for today's members.The Jiangbian restaurant is run by the government, and the meat is rotten in the pot, so there is no fear of wasting it.

(End of this chapter)