The days when I ransacked the house in Jinyiwei

Chapter 146 Introduction to the Cangchang Case: Plunging Grain Prices ([-]-character chapter)

According to the rules, on the second day after the township examination is released, the local government will invite all the local new recruits to a banquet.

The name of this banquet is "Deer Ming Banquet", which means "Yo Yo Lu Ming".It corresponds to the "Qionglin Banquet" after the title of the palace examination gold list.

The Luming Banquet was made in the Tang Dynasty, and there was no venison in the banquet.

During the Hongwu Dynasty, Yang Xian ruled Yangzhou.When he presided over a Luming Banquet, he said, "How can there be no venison in a Luming Banquet?".Then he ordered people to find a deer, kill it and share the meat with the people.

When Liu Bowen heard about this incident, he commented that his students were "too ambitious and wanted to compete in the Central Plains".So he broke off diplomatic relations with him.

Sure enough, within a few years, Yang Xian was killed by the great grandfather for crimes such as playing power and domineering.

However, the custom of eating venison at the Lu Ming Banquet has been preserved.

The location of the Luming Banquet in Shuntian Mansion is in the back of the government office.

Among the eight prefectures and two prefectures in Northern Zhili, Shuntian prefecture has the most prosperous style of study.Naturally, the most successful candidates were 35 people.

After Chang Feng attended Yumen Zaochao, he went to Jinyiwei to handle official business for an hour and a half.Then I went home to take a shower and changed clothes, put on a collared shirt and a square towel.Dressed as a scholar, he happily went to the Luming Banquet.

Before Chang Feng joined Jinyiwei, his biggest dream was to be lucky enough to participate in the Luming Banquet once in his life.

This time it got what it wanted.

Chang Feng came to the back office of Shuntian Mansion, and waited for the banquet with a group of new recruits.

Yayuan Huang Juren is the highest ranking person in Shuntian Mansion.Ranked third on the list.He naturally became the focus among the people.

Seeing Chang Feng approaching, Huang Juren took the initiative to talk: "Dare you ask the name of the same year? How many times have you been listed?"

Chang Feng cupped his hands and replied: "I'm Chang Feng, I'm ashamed, I'm at the bottom of the list, 98."

Huang Juren had never heard of Chang Feng's name.This is not surprising, some scholars don't even know who Su Shi is.

These people don't listen to things outside the window, and only read the books of sages and sages.Not to mention not caring about the current situation, even if you read Tang poetry and Song Ci, you will be denounced as "addicted to miscellaneous learning and not doing business properly".

Only the Four Books and Five Classics and Cheng Zhu's studies are their "right career".

Huang Juren has the face of a dog, and he can change when he says he wants to.He restrained his smile, with a look of disdain on his face: "Oh, 98 should be the last of the new recruits in Shuntian Prefecture. You should stand at the end of the line."

"At the Luming Banquet, you will also sit at the last seat, remember?"

It's normal for Yayuan to look down on Bangwei.Chang Feng tactfully retreated to the end of the line.

Next, he overheard a conversation that took him by surprise.

Huang Juren laughed and said, "Do you know what the word 'Luming' in the Luming Banquet refers to?"

Li Juren said, "Brother Huang, please enlighten me."

Huang Juren said: "The deer is the salary. The caller is the name. The salary of the salary is the name of the reputation."

"Scholars study hard for ten years, in addition to the public desire to serve the country loyally, there is also a small selfish desire to get promoted and get rich."

"The new examination is the beginning of entering the 'lu'. But the ancients were self-effacing and did not want to talk about getting promoted and making a fortune. Therefore, it is homophonic for 'deer'."

"As for 'name'. That's a better explanation. Once in the imperial court, it will be known all over the world, and it will be famous in Shilin. Take the homonym of 'ming'!"

Li Juren said with a smile: "Brother Huang's words are too incisive! Just after the list was announced yesterday, more than [-] people came to me to apply for it. A total of [-] mu of land was obtained."

"Several gentry families in the same county collected another 200 taels of silver to congratulate me."

The fields under Juren's name are tax-free.People in Arita will put their land under the name of Juren.

Juren charged them a rent that was lower than the land tax.This is called "efficiency".

As for He Yin after winning the election, it is a kind of political investment of the gentry.

If you go to the entrance examination, if you get a Jinshi, you can at least be a Qipin county magistrate.

If you fail to pass the test repeatedly and fail to win the Jinshi, you can give up the general test and hang up a sign in the Ministry of Officials to participate in the "big challenge".

If you are lucky enough to pass the big selection, you can be an eighth or ninth rank official such as the county magistrate or master book.

Don't underestimate these sesame officials.Sometimes a note can help the gentry calm down a big incident, and a single sentence can make the gentry make a fortune.

Huang Juren and Li Juren started talking.All the candidates started to show off how many benefits they had received in just one day.

"There is a Mr. Wang in our county. He used to be a county magistrate. His family always has five or six thousand acres of land. I was elected yesterday, and he gave me four young maids. He said they would warm my bed. "

"My brother is so beautiful. I don't have anyone to give me a girl. But someone invested in my three hundred acres of land. They also gave me a house."

"I'm not motivated. This time I won't go to the entrance examination if I win the exam. Go to the official department to hang a sign and wait for the big pick. If I can be released as a county magistrate, I can earn a thousand if the three-year term is full. 800 taels of silver."

In Chang Feng's imagination, the new imperial examination candidates who participated in the Lu Ming Banquet should discuss moral articles, or how to be a good official in the future, how to love the people and serve the court.

But now, this group of rotten Confucians who wrote benevolence, righteousness and morality on their examination papers are spitting and flying, discussing money, houses, fields, and women, all of them are beaming with joy.

It seems that they are not scholars, but businessmen.The ten-year cold window is their capital.After so many years of hard work, it's finally time to make some money.

The more Chang Feng listened, the more frightened he became.

Are these the "pillars" of the Ming Dynasty?Are these the future officials of Ming Dynasty?
Chang Feng suddenly remembered what Kong Hongtai said three years ago when he was in the Confucian Mansion in Qufu: "Scholars, once you win the election, you become an official. Good people will also become evil ghosts!"

Liang Fuyin from Shuntian Mansion came to the gate of the Hou Yamen and personally greeted the young talents who had just been elected.

All the people knelt down to salute Mr. Liang, "The students have met Mr. Liang."

Chang Feng didn't kneel down, and he didn't bow down.

Huang Juren reprimanded: "The bottom of the list, how dare you disrespect the Constitution?"

Chang Feng was too lazy to speak.

Liang Fu Yin saw clearly that Chang Feng was standing there, and hurriedly cupped his hands: "Ah, it's Master Chang of Jinyiwei!"

Huang Juren was shocked when he saw this scene.

Liang Fuyin said: "Changqian households have won the prize, and the emperor is full of praise for you. Being able to come to Biya for the Luming Banquet today really makes Biya flourish."

"Oh, when Lord Liu Bingyi was the chief envoy of Beizhili, I was the prefect of Shunde under him. In terms of speaking, you and I are close brothers."

Chang Feng walked up to Liangfu Yin, and said seriously: "I won't participate in the Luming Banquet. Because I don't bother to have a banquet with a group of people who only know how to get promoted and get rich!"

"Liang Fu Yin doesn't know. When they were chatting just now, they talked about money, land, house and women!"

After finishing speaking, Chang Feng deliberately walked up to Yayuan Huang Juren, and said loudly: "The imperial examination is a grand ceremony for the imperial court. But for this subject, I can only say that Shuntian Prefecture has selected a group of silverfish who are dedicated to getting promoted and making a fortune!"

"I don't want to be with people like you!"

Chang Feng left angrily after speaking.

After being astonished, Liang Fuyin scolded Huang Juren angrily: "What did you say in front of Chang Qianhu just now? Do you know that he is a big celebrity beside the emperor!"

"If he says a few words in front of the emperor, don't talk about your fame, even my third-rank Wusha may not be able to keep it!"

Chang Feng returned to the mansion angrily.

He could see the true face of this group of people who read sage books.No wonder corrupt officials can never be caught, and corrupt officials' mansions can never be copied.

Liu Xiaoyan saw Chang Feng's face full of anger.Ask: "What's wrong?"

Chang Feng told Liu Xiaoyan what he had seen and heard in the back yamen of Shuntian Mansion.

Liu Xiaoyan said: "What's so strange about this. The people you met are exactly like my father. How many scholars and officials in Ming Dynasty are not like that?"

"Like Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng, there may be no one in a hundred, no one in a thousand loyal and famous officials who passed the imperial examination to become officials."

"As long as you have a clear conscience, why should you care what they look like?"

Chang Feng calmed down: "Oh. Wearing a collared shirt, I really became angry with the book business. You are right. The officialdom is a big cesspool."

"It's not easy to be clean and clean. How can we expect other people to be clean?"

At this time, Tangtang walked in, holding a porcelain bowl and a teacup in his hand: "Brother, didn't you say you want to 'smash it'? I'm ready!"

"Smashing and lifting" is a custom of scholars in the Ming Dynasty after the imperial examination.

Anyone who wins the move will smash the old things in the house.Because soon someone will come and send a new set.It also takes the auspicious meaning of breaking the old and welcoming the new.

Chang Feng said: "Don't smash it! It's a good thing, what to do if you smash it."

Morning the next day.

Geng Yu, Shangshu of the Ministry of Rites, was the first to report to the class: "Your Majesty, the envoys from Turpan paid tribute to a pair of lions to Ming Dynasty."

The Turpan Department of the Western Regions has always coveted the Hamiwei controlled by Ming Dynasty.If you don't have anything to show your courtesy, you can either rape or steal.

There is a saying that those who are good at the top will be worse at the bottom.

Xianzong liked to touch fish and lie flat.Officials like Liu Ji muddle along when things happen.As long as I don't do anything or make suggestions, the emperor will be idle.good for everyone.

Emperor Hongzhi liked ministers who could speak out and speak out.Liu Ji has changed dramatically in the past two years, and he can put forward a bunch of suggestions every morning.

Liu Ji came out of the class and said: "Report to the emperor. Turpan has repeatedly violated Hamiwei. Their envoys sent the lions. I don't know what their intentions are."

"I heard that a lion eats two sheep a day. A pair is four. A year is more than 400 sheep. And fifty soldiers are guarded every day."

"To feed a pair of lions is to consume animals and military power, which runs counter to the emperor's philosophy of governing the country with diligence and thrift!"

"The old minister suggested that the two lions should be starved to death."

Emperor Hongzhi said, "Heaven has the virtue of loving life. Starving a lion to death is always somewhat inhumane. I heard that many wealthy households in Beijing like to raise exotic animals."

"It's better to sell it to wealthy households, and get the money to fill the treasury."

All the ministers shouted: "The emperor is wise."

Emperor Hongzhi was a young man.Young people usually have a strong curiosity about the unknown world.

Liu Ji chose what he liked, and then reported: "Your Majesty. Please select 120 supervisors and send them to the Siyi Hall of the Imperial Academy to learn the Yi language."

"Among them, there are 15 people from the Tatar Pavilion, the Women's Pavilion, the Xifan Pavilion, the Xitian Pavilion, the Huihui Pavilion, the Baiyi Pavilion, the Gaochang Pavilion, and the Burmese Pavilion."

"Three years later, the Hanlin Academy will take the examination together with the Ministry of Rites. Those who pass the exam will be designated as food disciples. We will give rice a stone every month."

If you want to understand regions other than the Ming Dynasty, you must train a large number of interpreters.

Liu Ji's suggestion can be regarded as touching Emperor Hongzhi's heart.

Emperor Hongzhi said: "Shoufu's suggestion is very good. The decree will be implemented!"

In the following performances, Emperor Hongzhi fully demonstrated the role model of Mingjun.

Wang Shu suggested to Emperor Hongzhi that there will be no distinction between cold and heat in the future.

This is an exaggerated suggestion.Originally, there were only four months in a year when there were no sutra feasts.They are June, July, the twelfth lunar month and the first month.

Similar to the emperor's winter and summer vacations.

Lao Wang directly wanted to cancel the emperor's winter and summer vacations.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Hongzhi readily agreed: "Zuzao!"

Today's Jingyan in the palace is not at all the same group of rotten scholars who talked about it before.

Emperor Hongzhi had turned the banquet into an imperial meeting for policy discussions.

Ma Wensheng suggested abolishing court superstition and entertainment activities such as fasting in the palace, chanting scriptures in Xitianchang, and lantern banquets during the Lantern Festival.

Emperor Hongzhi agreed.It really is Ming Jun!

However, young people make mistakes all the time.Chang Feng will make mistakes, and Emperor Hongzhi will also make mistakes.

Emperor Hongzhi suddenly said: "I have been thinking hard recently and thought of a national policy that benefits the country and the people."

"Xiao Jing, read the will I drafted to all the ministers."

This was a surprise attack by Emperor Hongzhi.

In the two years since he took the throne, almost all the major national policies he formulated were implemented after discussions with important officials such as Wang Shu and Ma Wensheng.

This time, he wanted to bypass those courtiers and formulate a major policy for governing the country by himself to benefit the common people.

Xiao Jing began to read the drafted central edict: "There is an edict. It is the autumn harvest, and the two capitals and 13 provinces will report a bumper harvest. Those who are prepared will have no trouble. If there is no rain, you should plan for it."

"All prefectures and counties should take advantage of the good years to accumulate grain and grain in order to prepare for disaster years."

"In Fanzhou County, those who are less than ten miles away can accumulate five thousand stones of grain; those who are between ten miles and twenty miles away can accumulate 19 stones; those who are twenty miles away can accumulate [-] stones; those who are eight hundred miles away can accumulate [-] stones; Five thousand stones are accumulated; one hundred households accumulate three hundred stones."

"Those who have accumulated more than the limit are qualified. Those who exceed the limit are promoted, and those who are not enough are punished. The government, state, county, and military officials regard this as promotion and dismissal."

"Kin this!"

The original intention of this will is good.Taking advantage of the good year, let the official warehouses in various places accumulate grain.

With food in hand, don't panic.When there is a disaster year, there will be sufficient food relief.

Sutra is a good sutra.

But Wang Shu, Ma Wensheng and other people who have experienced the ups and downs of officialdom know that monks need to be recited by monks of all levels.

When you reach the bottom, you don't know what the scriptures will look like!
However, they were unable to raise objections at this moment.

Because this is the first major policy independently formulated by Emperor Hongzhi.As an important auxiliary minister, if he raises objections at this moment, it will definitely damage the emperor's authority.

Liu Ji took the lead and shouted: "The emperor is wise!" All the ministers echoed.

Chang Feng also felt that this decree was wise and good governance.

Emperor Hongzhi said again: "The matter of accumulating grain must be completed within half a year. In March next year, I will send imperial envoys to inspect various places to check the amount of grain stored."

After the court was over, Chang Feng withdrew from the imperial gate together with the officials.

He heard very different discussions about Emperor Hongzhi's grain hoarding policy.

Liu Ji said happily to his colleagues: "The emperor is so wise! Everyone knows that in good harvest years, we must stockpile food to prepare for shortages. A family is a country, and a country is not like a family."

"The emperor has drafted such a great decree, and our cabinet must immediately implement it."

Wang Shu asked Ma Wensheng, "What do you think?"

Ma Wensheng said in a low voice, "Let's have a look."

The days passed.Zhuang Zhuang grows up day by day and has learned to walk.

In a blink of an eye, it is March in Yangchun, the third year of Hongzhi.

On the banks of the Yongding River in the capital city.

Chang Feng leads Tangtang, Zhuang Zhuang and Liu Xiaoyan on a spring trip.

Ten-year-old Tangtang picked a bunch of wild flowers, and filled the head of a one-and-a-half-year-old boy.

Zhuang Zhuang couldn't speak yet, so he could only "babble" and waved his small fists to express his anger at his aunt's flower arrangement.

The 24-year-old Chang Feng is lying on the grass with his legs crossed, enjoying the sunshine comfortably, holding a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth.

Four full years have passed since that dangerous autumn night in the 22nd year of Chenghua.

Today's Changfeng is not what it used to be.He won the trust of Emperor Hongzhi and the support of Wei Zhongpaoze.Sun Luan, the governor of Beizhen, was seriously ill, and he took care of everything in the past six months when the Beisi took care of the affairs.

It was only a matter of time before he was promoted to be the governor of Beizhen.

In February, he took part in the examination as a Juren, and it was no surprise that he lost his name to Sun Shan.After all, the test is the best competition among the scholars of Ming Dynasty.

He wasn't upset about anything either.He, the emperor's celebrity, participated in the test just to play for tickets.

Mrs. Ninth did not come over for an outing.Now Liu Xiaoyan of the Chang family is in charge of the outside, and the ninth wife is in charge.

Liu Xiaoyan socialized with noble ladies in Beijing on weekdays, and went to the palace to visit her righteous sister, Empress Zhang, when she had nothing to do.

Mrs. Ninth is in charge of the servants, expenses, purchases, daily necessities, rice, oil and salt at home.

The fly in the ointment is that Chang Feng has taken Mrs. Nine as his concubine for one year and three months. It is absurd that the two of them stay up all night every few days. He is almost playing him to death, but Mrs. Ninth is not pregnant.

It may be that Mrs. Jiu had sex with others before she and Chang Feng.She once used an excessive amount of musk for contraception, resulting in infertility today.Of course, Madam Nine couldn't tell Chang Feng about this.

In the afternoon, Chang Feng drove the carriage, and the family went back to the mansion.

As soon as he entered the mansion, Chang Feng saw that Mrs. Ninth was instructing the servants to carry bags of rice to the house.

Chang Feng was a little surprised: "What do you buy so much grain for?"

Mrs. Nine said: "There are six people in our family, six servants, eight maids, and two cooks. Do you know how much rice a day for 22 people?"

Chang Feng is now considered a popular celebrity in the capital.Although he is not corrupt or accepts bribes, the occasional rewards from Queen Zhang are not small amounts.

The old man Liu Bingyi has been an official for many years and has saved a lot of money.When Liu Xiaoyan married, the dowry money and land were not small sums.

Madam Nine has been doing black market business for many years.The dowry brought over is also a lot of money.

Therefore, the life of Chang Feng's family can definitely be called rich.It is reasonable for a wealthy family to hire more than a dozen servants, maids and cooks.

Chang Feng said: "Then there is no need to buy so many."

Mrs. Nine explained: "The price of grain in the capital has dropped by a full [-]%. You, if you are not in charge of a family, you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are. I take advantage of the low grain price and store more, which can save a lot of money."

Madam Nine is a thrifty person.

Chang Feng was a little strange: "You said that the price of grain dropped by [-]%? That's not right. It should be that the price of grain will drop during the autumn harvest. This is the spring season, when there is no harvest. It should be the time when the price of grain is the highest."

Nine Furen said: "Can I still lie to you? The rice, millet, wheat, and millet in the capital are all [-]% lower than in previous years!"

In ancient times, to measure the prosperity of a dynasty, an important criterion was the price of food.

The lower the grain price, the more prosperous the dynasty and the more abundant the output.

Chang Feng laughed and said, "Why don't you say that since the emperor took the throne three years ago, the Ming Dynasty has been prosperous? Hey, the food price has dropped so much."

Chang Feng still doesn't know that behind the plummeting grain prices, there is a big warehouse case hidden.

(End of this chapter)