Crazy at the end of the Ming Dynasty

When Wu Shigong returned to the gate of the yamen, he happened to meet Xu Limu escorting more than forty people back.

Pulling Xu Limu aside, Wu Shigong asked, "What's going on?"

Xu Limu reported the matter to Wu Shigong.It turned out that these people did not listen to Bing Masi's advice and insisted on picking up items from the ruins.After understanding the reason, Wu Shigong told Xu Limu: Screen out these people. If they are picked up from other people, they will be charged as robbery and sent to other yamen for judgment.If they were just picked up on their own property, they should be locked up in the yamen and released at night when they are in the yamen, so that these people can keep their heads clear.He took special care of Xu Limu, don't beat and scold those locked up, even if their relatives come to the Yamen to rescue them, don't charge any red envelopes, and explain patiently to these relatives that they will be released at night.Because now is a sensitive period, do not stir up any civil uprisings.

Xu Limu quickly nodded in agreement.Wu Shigong then pouted at the middle-aged man and woman, and said to Xu Limu: "Those two people will lock them up for three or four days, and you can do whatever you want. Give them some gruel to drink, and don't starve to death." That's fine. But, don't fight or scold him." Wu Shigong didn't dare to do anything wrong.Since the middle-aged man and woman dared to yell at him as an official, they must have some confidence.Before finding out the background of those two people, Wu Shigong didn't want to do anything to them.Besides, the conflict between them, that is, the quarrel, is not a life-and-death enemy. When the time comes, after giving these two people a little bit of trouble, Wu Shigong will release them both.

After hearing Wu Shigong's arrangement, Xu Limu immediately took the two of them into the escort team and escorted them to the Yamen.At the time of parting, Xu Limu reported to Wu Shigong: The announcement of requisitioning carriages from the chariot and horse guild has been notified to Chairman Lin of the chariot and horse guild.

Wu Shigong was about to go back to the yamen to rest, when suddenly he heard someone calling him in the distance.Wu Shigong took a look, he knew that person, he was his elder brother Wu Shixun's personal servant.After calling the boy over for questioning, it turned out that his elder brother Wu Shixun wanted to have lunch with Wu Shigong.Now, Wu Shigong's eldest brother, Wu Shixun, is waiting for him in the restaurant opposite the yamen.

It is also impossible for Wu Shigong to naively think that his elder brother invited him to dinner because of brotherhood, and it must be that his elder brother is looking for him for something.After returning to the yamen and changing his plain clothes, Wu Shigong followed the boy to the restaurant. After the two brothers said a few polite words, under Wu Shigong's continuous questioning, his elder brother Wu Shixun finally hesitantly expressed his intention:

It turned out that Wu Shixun had gone to work at Taipu Temple.This Taipu Temple has an important extra advantage, which is the annual review of the number of horses.Anyway, there are a lot of tricks in it, and every year Taipu Temple can pick out a batch of horses.Sell ​​it in the market, and let the officials of Taipu Temple share it as a welfare.But it would be too troublesome to sell these horses piecemeal, and the return of funds would be slow.But if they were sold in the mule and horse market, on the one hand, these horses would not see much light, and on the other hand, the mule and horse market always wanted to make money, so Taipu Temple's income would be reduced.

This time, after the big explosion at Wang Gong Factory, the horses of the chariot and horse dealers in Nancheng were not small.In addition to the horses that were killed and injured by the bombing, there were also many other horses that were maimed and disabled after being frightened.But this time, Taipusi had a relatively large number of horses, about 310.Therefore, Taipusi wanted to sell all the horses in his hand to the chariot and horse dealer.But the previous few times were not negotiated.Because there are two differences.The first difference is that the asking price of Taipu Temple is relatively high.Taipu Temple offered 25 taels of silver per horse.This price is the market price.But the car and horse dealers refused, they thought the price was too high.There is a question of wholesale price and retail price here.The second difference is that Taipusi hopes that the chariot and horse dealers will pay the money in one lump sum.And the car and horse company wants to pay in installments because of the relatively large loss this time.

And this morning, President Lin of the Chariots and Horses Guild was negotiating with the officials of the Taipu Temple. carriage.As a result, Chairman Lin suspended the negotiation and went back to the horses and horses to make arrangements.Knowing the news, the officials of Taipu Temple remembered that Wu Shixun was the eldest brother of Wu Shigong, the acting commander of the Nancheng Army and Horse Division. Therefore, they asked Wu Shixun to let Wu Shigong help to push the horses and horses, so as to reach the deal of Taipu Temple.

Knowing the purpose of elder brother Wu Shixun's visit, Wu Shigong thought about it.In fact, yesterday Wu Shigong and his father-in-law Xue Lian calculated that [-] horse-drawn carriages would be needed to clean up the ruins, but his father-in-law Xue Lian promised to get [-] from the Beijing camp, so Wu Shigong only needs to requisition [-] from the horse-drawn carriages. .Moreover, the requisition time is not so long, it only takes four months after negotiation.Why did Wu Shigong ask Xu Limu to pass the news to the chariot and horse dealers, saying: [-] carriages will be requisitioned for six months?This is also the principle of asking a lot of money and paying back the money on the spot.Wu Shigong also estimated that after the car and horse company got the news, they would send someone to bargain with him soon.Therefore, solving the problem of the eldest brother Wu Shixun is also a matter of favor and favor.Moreover, it is not without his own interests, Wu Shigong is a little bit greedy for these horses.So, Wu Shigong basically agreed.However, he didn't say anything dead, but he promised his eldest brother that no matter whether the result was good or bad, he would give his eldest brother a clear message within three days.

Wu Shixun breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Wu Shigong's answer.Today I came to see Wu Shigong. On the one hand, Wu Shixun still has the mentality of a literati, and he doesn't want to discuss any business nakedly; on the other hand, he is worried about what Wu Shigong thinks about his marriage.And if Wu Shigong refuses, Wu Shixun will lose face in Taipu Temple.Now that there is a result, Wu Shixun is relieved.So, the two brothers had a pleasant lunch.Before breaking up, Wu Shixun politely asked Wu Shigong, asking when he would bring his wife back to the Wu Mansion?After hearing this inquiry, Wu Shigong blinked his eyes and was stunned for a long time.The new daughter-in-law has a rule of returning home after three days.Does the son-in-law also have this rule?Therefore, Wu Shigong only vaguely agreed.

Sure enough, as Wu Shigong expected, President Lin of the Chariot and Horse Guild came to visit Wu Shigong just after noon with a gift of 300 taels of silver.As soon as they met, Chairman Lin poured out bitterness, telling the tragic experience of the car and horse dealership that almost moved people to tears.Wu Shigong didn't care about President Lin's spitting of lotus flowers, and called President Lin into the inner hall, and the two negotiated behind closed doors.After more than an hour of intense bargaining, President Lin finally left the Bingmasi Yamen with a smile on his face.

The content and explanation of the agreement reached between Wu Shigong and President Lin are as follows:

The first point is: the soldiers and horses will requisition 200 horse-drawn carriages from the chariot and horse dealers, and the requisition period is four months.Chairman Lin of the Chariot and Horse Guild organized the carriages of each of the chariot and horse guilds to gather at the site of the ruins on June [-]th;

The second point is: The Chariot and Horse Company will spend 750 taels of silver to buy 25 horses from Taipu Temple.Pay right away.That is to say, the chariot and horse shop will buy 310 horses at a price of 110 taels of silver each, and donate [-] of them to Wu Shigong;

The third point is: because the number of horse-drawn carriages requisitioned by Bingma Division this time has accounted for nearly half of the entire number of carriages in the carriage, the freight charges for carriages will increase.However, in order to ensure that the increase in freight charges does not affect the daily life of ordinary people, the Bing Ma Si will stipulate that the freight charges for carriages will be increased by up to [-]%.And, by the end of the year at the latest, the carriage freight will return to the original standard.Of course, with the support of the government, the horse-drawn carriage company will definitely increase the carriage fee by [-]%, and keep it until the end of the year;

The fourth point is: the ruins of the houses transported by the horse-drawn carriage will be sorted out by President Lin himself, but for the ruins of each house, President Lin will pay the military commander, which is Wu Shigong himself, a processing fee of three silver coins;

The fifth point is: after the horse-drawn carriage has transported the ruins of the house, if the empty carriage returns to the city, if the carriage arranges to deliver the goods, half of the freight will be handed over to the Bing Ma Si, that is, Wu Shigong himself.vice versa.

Chairman Lin is of course very satisfied with this agreement.Although this agreement has given Wu Shigong a lot of benefits, the car and horse business is not at a disadvantage. Even President Lin himself has a lot of benefits in dealing with the ruins of the house.In addition, if the number of requisitioned carriages and carriages can be properly arranged, the large carriages and horses owned by President Xiang Lin will stage a good show where the big fish eat the small fish and annex those small carriages and horses.

And Wu Shigong is also very satisfied with this agreement.Although Wu Shigong transferred part of the benefits to Chairman Lin, he also handed over all the miscellaneous matters to Chairman Lin.You can free up your hands to develop new financial resources and save yourself time.

After Chairman Lin left, Wu Shigong called Shumo over and asked him to go to the Yamen of Taipu Temple to inform his elder brother Wu Shixun that the deal had been completed.

After finishing all this, Wu Shigong lay on the chair and wanted to relax completely. At this time, a small official from the military and horse department ran in in a panic and said to Wu Shigong: "Master Commander, there is a fan from Dongchang outside." Looking for you."

Wu Shigong felt a little strange, the people from Dongchang came, why should you panic, a small official?He didn't know that in the Ming Dynasty, there was no one who didn't panic when he saw people from Dongchang visiting for no reason.

Wu Shigong got up and went out to greet him, but he didn't expect the man from Dongchang to be quite polite with a smile on his face.He bowed to Wu Shigong, handed over a greeting card and said, "Commander Wu, our Lord Baihu will hold a banquet to welcome you when you take office tomorrow. Li Qianhu from Jinyiwei will also accompany you. Please Commander Wu, this is our honor. A post from Lord Baihu."