Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1752 Qingjie Court

"Oh? It seems that there is quite a lot of oil and water here." Liu San nodded with a smile.

"Whether it's oily or not, those who are small don't dare to talk nonsense," Mao Xiuyu squinted his eyes and smiled, "Just say that the nearest Dong Wuye, when he took office, looked like the poor people living here. For each other, within two or three years, the hometown built a house and bought land. Even this Guangzhou city also bought a house, Jinwu Zangjiao."

Liu San silently calculated that there are 2165 people, each with three buckets of rice per month, and the money is 45 Wen.In one month, you can get 6495 buckets of brown rice from the official warehouse, and the money is 97425 Wen. 650 shi brown rice, according to the average price in the Guangzhou market, is nearly 700 taels of silver, plus copper coins, Pujitang spends nearly 900 taels of silver every month, more than 1 taels a year!
It suddenly occurred to him that it is impossible to allocate the full amount of this money, and it is customary to handle three cents of the money.Immediately asked: "As usual, what percentage of people will come to church?"

"Master really understands!" Mao Xiuyu laughed, "As usual, it's [-]%."

Liu San thought it was really dark enough.He asked again: "Tell me the truth, how much rice can each person adopt in this church get each month?"

Although Mao Xiuyu was full of smiles, he licked his lips and said: "Everyone in the Bureau, as long as they are not too sick to walk, they will go to the street to beg on weekdays..."

"That is to say, there is nothing at all?"

"It can't be said that there are none. The old, weak, sick, and disabled can't move, and they can't do without a mouthful of porridge in the hall. They can't go out in rainy weather, and they are also in the hall. The women in Qingjie hall can't show their faces. They rely on weaving to raise chickens. To make a living, the hall also needs to subsidize them." Mao Xiuyu didn't dare to show his smile anymore, and whispered.

"How much rice do you get a month?" Liu San asked.

"There is a quota," Mao Xiuyu said, "All the laborers in the hall are given two buckets of rice and three hundred cash per month."

"No extra money?" Liu San said with a smile.

Mao Xiuyu glanced at him nervously, laughed a few times, and said: "If you say no, the master will definitely not believe it, but it is very limited. The water is flooding the ground, and the ground is just wet."

"How many laborers are there here?"

"There are always more than 100 people. The younger ones have never seen the roster, so they dare not speak nonsense..."

"What about people?"

"The few brought by Mr. Dong have all followed. I have never seen the other young ones. There are seven or eight who are now taking care of everywhere in the hall."

"Since you're working here, why haven't you seen him?" Liu San was puzzled.

"Master Mingjian," Mao Xiuyu said, "they are all recommended by the threshold. It is inconvenient for the masters in the prefectures and counties to decline, so they will use their names to benefit one or two."

Originally, only [-]% of the money went to the account, and there were about a hundred redundant staff who took the money and did nothing, and the stewards who "build houses, buy land, golden houses and hide beautiful women" came to erode and exploit.How much can fall on the heads of the adopters is self-evident.No wonder Puji Hall was dilapidated, and the people inside looked like beggars—they were beggars at all.

Liu San has been collecting and buying medicines and practicing medicine for a long time, and has a deep contact with traditional society. He has long been familiar with the extreme decay and darkness of this time and space. He estimates that the 2165 adoptees may not be real, at least half of them are water.he asked:

"Are the rosters and ledgers in the church still there?"

"This...is all in Master Gao's hands."

Liu San wondered why another Master Gao appeared: "Who is Master Gao?"

"It's the master accountant of the hall, named Gao Bohai. He doesn't come to the hall often." Mao Xiuyu said cautiously, "The account book and roster are all in his hands."

Liu San reckoned that Master Gao was also a powerful figure in Pujitang, and asked Mao Xiuyu a few more questions, and probably knew that Master Gao was "recommended" by a local gentry, and he had been a master in Pujitang for more than ten years. .

When Liu San saw Mao Xiuyu mentioning Master Gao, his eyes flickered and he hesitated, knowing that there must be something hidden in it.Then he used words to trap him, and hinted that he could be considered for the position in charge.Under the influence of the atmosphere of "changing dynasties and changing feng shui", Mao Xiuyu finally said some key news.

In fact, Master Gao is the one who really controls the Puji Hall, and all affairs in the hall are in his hands, exactly the same as the relationship between the county magistrate and the household book office.The head of Pujitang came and went with the magistrate, but Master Gao seemed to have taken root.When the new head takes office, the first thing to do is to get along well with this master Gao, otherwise there will be a huge loss in a few months. Make trouble, even the prefect's own son who is in charge can't do it anymore.

"The people in charge are all following the lords to get rich and enjoy the blessings. How many people are willing to come to this barren cemetery to squat and do things? Anyway, as long as there is a lot of money, it will be enough."

But Mr. Gao does not have any "big killer" like "fish scale book" that can stand up to the person in charge. The key lies in the gentry and good people who recommended him to take up this position.

The name of Zhenshan is Zhengaizheng. He owns a large area of ​​land and forests in the north of Guangzhou City. He is rich and powerful. He is enthusiastic about organizing charities, repairing bridges and repairing roads, collecting buried roads, holding porridge sheds... and donating several pieces of cemetery land .Both inside and outside the city have a great reputation. They are called Zhenshan people, and they can be called real village sages.

Liu San nodded, and suddenly said in a low voice: "You tell me the truth, how many people does Pujitang adopt?"

Mao Xiuyu stammered: "There are always... always... there are four to five hundred people... the exact number, even the small ones can't figure it out." He said that there were more than 500 poor women and dozens of Children, because they seldom go out and know the approximate number, other people can stay or stay at will, as long as they hold the Pujitang waist card, they are considered Pujitang people.As time goes on, some brands and people are no longer compatible.

"... Even if there is a roster, I'm afraid I don't know the real number of people. This roster has not been changed for many years."

Liu San thought to himself that there is a lot of dark inside this small Puji Hall.But these are Lin Baiguang's affairs.He was more concerned about the environmental sanitation here, and said, "Take me to have a look inside the hall."

"The hall has not been cleaned for many years, it is extremely filthy..."

"No problem."

"Yes, yes," Mao Xiuyu thought, this Australian is really strange, what is there to see in this dilapidated temple full of rubble and rubbish everywhere?If he didn't want a few coins, he really wouldn't want to stay here for a moment.

Now lead the way, from a flat bluestone road behind the Daxiong Hall to the stupa behind.Weeds were luxuriant on both sides, there were broken bricks and tiles, and Xiao Ai, a foot or two high, grew from the cracks between the stone slabs.

This Huanghua Temple has a huge area and many halls.Although it has been abandoned for a long time, there are still many houses inside, most of which have open doors, and the grass in the courtyard is so deep that there are no people.The shrine of the temple is covered with dust, and the traces of mice crawling can be seen on the confession case and the ground.

In some places, it can be seen that there are still people living, with tattered clothes, broken bowls, casserole pots with missing corners, and broken straw mats with only straw mats left on the ground.But most of the people were away, only some sick and disabled people. According to Mao Xiuyu, as long as they could walk, they all went out to beg. As for whether they would come back at night, it was not certain.Some people get something after going there for a few months.

"As soon as Nantian arrives and the weather is rainy, more people go out and come back. If it is very cold in winter, fewer people go out,"

Mao Xiuyu took him to the gate of a courtyard. Liu San was not surprised to see that the gate of the courtyard was closed and locked.Mao Xiuyu took a few steps and shouted: "Fifth sister-in-law!"

In response, a middle-aged woman in her 30s came out. She looked very capable. When she saw Mao Xiuyu bringing a few "kun men" with her, she was startled, but she immediately reacted, and immediately changed into a look of joy when the Master saw her. face, rushed down the steps, knelt down and kowtowed in front of Liu San:
"From the slave's family and the Sun Wu's family, kowtow to the master."

"This is--"

"The slave family is an official matchmaker, and they are here to take care of the Qingjieyuan."

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, there were official media outlets in the local yamen, and they were responsible for taking care of all official affairs involving women, and they were regarded as women's yamen servants.

Seeing her neat demeanor and sharp eyes, Liu San knew that she was a powerful and aggressive woman.

Hearing that Liu San was the "chief executive" of Australia who came to inspect, Sun Wusao was a little more courteous, and hurriedly took out the key and opened the courtyard door.

Liu San was puzzled: "Why do you lock the door when the sky is bright and white?"

"There are poor and chaste widows living here. Although this place is cold, there are still many men who come in and out, lock the door, and keep out of the outside world, and keep out the inside. How much less gossip." Sun Sansao said in a rambling manner, "Widow To keep the festival, the first thing is to avoid suspicion!"

She said that men are not allowed to enter here on weekdays, and even relatives from the same family can only meet at the door when they come to visit. For some widows with children, boys have to move out when they are seven years old.

"This place is the most rigorous. It has been established for almost 100 years, and there has never been a single scandal, and there has never been a remarriage." From the words, Sun Wusao was very proud.

Liu San saw that Qingjieyuan was a converted monastery, surrounded by the clean rooms of the monks in the past, and there was a kitchen in the corner, which is now dilapidated and barely repaired with broken bricks and tiles, but compared to the outside Still much neater.The bricks laid in the courtyard have been shoveled clean, and various vegetables are planted.There are also a few chickens walking in the courtyard.

Sun Wusao said that the festival women mainly weave cloth and silk, and there are more than 30 looms in the whole courtyard. In addition, they can grow vegetables and raise chickens by themselves, which can make a living.

"Aren't you going to give Qianmi?"

"Here! Here!" Fifth Sister-in-Law Sun said repeatedly, but she glanced straight at Mao Xiuyu. Mao Xiuyu said unhappily, "Sister-in-law Fifth, just tell the truth. There are not so many taboos about changing dynasties now!"

Mrs. Sun Wu hurriedly laughed and said, "Qianmi is available, but only one bucket per month. If you take care of the children, add three liters..."

"Only one fight?" Liu San asked with a frown.

"Master, you are wise! Even this fight may not be distributed on time." Sun Wusao lamented, "All the ladies in the gates of the big houses in the city are kind and send people to the hall to give alms from time to time. Otherwise, it is really impossible to say!"

(End of this chapter)