Idle courtiers

Chapter 109 Your Uncle Is Your Uncle
It was night, in a hut deep in the backyard of the inn, the shopkeeper Wei of this inn was in a very good mood.

He was sitting on a chair, looking at the ledger on the table, and happily playing with a pile of scattered silver in the drawer.

The 38th year of Jiajing was not a good day for the Ming Dynasty. Japanese pirates were rampant in Fujian and Zhejiang, and the place was corrupt.In order to suppress these pirates, the imperial court mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and spent tens of millions of silver.The war is getting bigger and bigger, but the banditry is getting more and more serious.

Those hibiscus dwarfs are really scary, they come and go like the wind by boat, and they rob them and leave.It even appeared that more than 100 Japanese pirates went deep into the mainland and crossed more than a dozen states and counties.

The army of the imperial court is really unusable. The guard system has been abandoned for a long time, and the troops will collapse at the touch of an enemy.

There is no way but to transfer the frontier army, but the frontier army is still unable to fight.

In the end, the banditry even spread to the mouth of the Yangtze River and even to Changzhou Prefecture.Since last year, a large number of people in the mansion have fled, even as far as Huai'an.Everything in the field was also abandoned, and there were ruins and walls everywhere, and it was desolate.

However, this is greatly beneficial to Shopkeeper Wei.Relying on this inn and the ever-increasing room and board prices, he now earns as much in a month as he did in the previous year.

It's the country's misfortune and the businessman's luck. He hopes that this battle will continue forever, as long as the Japanese pirates don't come into the city.

In fact, pirates can't break in either.Inside the city is Tang Shunzhi's camp, and there are several military camps outside the city.As long as the Japanese pirates want money, they will fight if they can beat them, and they will flee if they can't beat them.

Looking at the silver in the drawer, shopkeeper Wei smiled happily, and said to Xiao Er who was always by his side: "Guan Jia, the business in the inn has been good recently. From next month onwards, your money will increase by [-] Wen. Don't worry." Say I'm stingy, if you want the horses to be afraid, you have to feed them grass."

After hearing this, Guan Jia felt tired.He is a villain, of course, so is Shopkeeper Wei.The so-called not a family, do not enter a door.

It's only increased by a hundred yuan, and you don't look at the prices outside, and you say that you are not stingy. I think you are a stingy old man.

He was upset, and naturally he refused to make Shopkeeper Wei happy.So he poured cold water on him and said, "Shopkeeper, don't be too happy. Our business is good, but the outside products are also expensive. After deducting the cost, there is nothing more. The so-called rising tide lifts all boats! Besides, the current head of this county is Tang My lord, Mr. Tang is training the new army, but the court didn’t give him any money, so he has to raise everything by himself. It is said that the levy will be increased soon. The business of our inn is so good, how can we escape?”

"It's possible to collect more than a dozen taels or even dozens of taels a month. Shopkeeper, you'd better prepare the money first!"

Wei Zhanggui felt displeased, and scolded: "You just know how to say some nasty things."

Guan Jia sprinkled salt on the wound and repaired the knife and said: "Also, I heard that there is not enough troops in the army. Tang Gong wants to recruit civilian husbands, one family and one man. If you refuse to go, you can pay 20 taels. The shopkeeper may not be able to escape. Take it off, you have to go bankrupt."

"What, 20 taels and a dime?" Shopkeeper Wei trembled in distress.

Guan Jia: "If the shopkeeper doesn't want to pay, but also wants to serve the country, he should join the army."

The shopkeeper Wei began to scold his mother: "Tang Shunzhi, Zhiniang thief, you are still from Changzhou! Why is the matter of conscription and food collection to the villagers, and this is not the way to kill familiar ones? You will return to your hometown after you retire, and see how you deal with it." Folks and elders, why didn’t you get your head chopped off by Japanese pirates!”

Think about it, that's right.The Japanese pirates have already reached Songjiang Mansion, and Changzhou is on the front line of the war, so the army naturally needs to be replenished nearby.

Moreover, Tang Shunzhi is a native of Changzhou, with a high reputation, and it is convenient to raise money, food and human resources.If it were him, he would do the same.

After scolding for a long time, he said to Guan Jia again: "Don't gloat about your misfortune, you fellow, if you really want to conscript, I will take you as the value."

"Ah, shopkeeper, you can't be so heartless!" Guan Jia listened to shopkeeper Wei's words as if he was joking, and his forehead was sweating.Going to be a soldier and fighting Japanese pirates, wouldn't that be life-threatening?
At this moment, there was a coughing sound from the front.Although the sound is not loud, it can be clearly heard in the dark night.

Guan Jia was quick to think, and said: "Shopkeeper, I have an idea. Don't those three birdmen owe us a lot of rent, why don't we hand them over to the army to pay for it?"

"Those three people..." Shopkeeper Wei pondered: "It's not very good, after all, they are our customers, who would dare to live in our shop if word spread?"

Guan Jia persuaded: "Don't worry, shopkeeper, these three people have no way to guide them. When I stayed in the store, I saw that they were handsome and didn't report to the officials for the sake of money. Thinking about it, it should be I also sympathize with those who escaped from the military disaster at home. Among them, the fat man surnamed Zhan and the one surnamed Xia are seriously ill, that’s all. The one surnamed Zhou looks quite strong, and it’s just right for business trips.”

"I'm not afraid that they will refuse. If they refuse, they will be sent to the government and punished as refugees. Master, this is a head of 20 taels of silver. You can't miss it. Don't tell me you have to pay for it yourself, this is not your character."

"As for the reputation, our inn cooperates with the government to arrest the refugees, and it is upright, so we are afraid of being said?"

He is already earnest.

"Well, I won't pay this money." Shopkeeper Wei nodded: "Well, tomorrow you will go to Xingyuan to get someone to pick up newcomers... By the way, let's say we have three people here."

"Send the three of them to the military camp as errands?" Guan Jia was stunned: "Shopkeeper, our family only sells one man? You are always serving the country with all your might!"

"Fart, serve the country and serve the country, what benefits does the country give me? Not only does it not give money, but also collects taxes every month. This kind of country that asks people to pay for it, let him die." Shopkeeper Wei cursed a few words, Said: "Guan Jia, you are an idiot, we only pay one dime. Now there are two more people, can't we sell it to other families? Each family has a dime, and those who refuse to pay 20 taels of silver. We sell one tael to others , some people are rushing to ask for it.”

Guan Jia took a deep breath and gave a thumbs up: "Tall, it's really tall. The villain admires the ingenuity of the shopkeeper so much."

The shopkeeper Wei's action not only paid off the room and board money owed by the three guests, but also made some money in the end.

Sure enough, the brain circuits of successful people are different from those of ordinary people.

The reason why he became the boss and I was the buddy really made sense, I couldn't think of this idea alone.

Still the same sentence: Your uncle, after all, is your uncle.

I still have a lot, a lot to learn.

Shopkeeper Wei waved at him triumphantly: "The people from Xingyuan are expected to arrive in the afternoon, so you can give them something good to eat at noon, so that they don't look so depressed. Otherwise, they may not be willing to take those two sick men. By the way, tomorrow Go early in the morning and ask who is willing to pay for the quota."

(End of this chapter)