Idle courtiers

Chapter 467 Gossip about Qingzhou Road Reform ([-])

Xu Fan: "Since my father raised his arms and eradicated the strict party and traitors, Yan Shifan was arrested and imprisoned. The left servant of the Ministry of Industry was vacant, and the right servant was filled in turn. After that, the post of right servant has been vacant."

"Oh, it seems that Mr. Yuezhang intends to fight for this official position?" Zhou Nan asked, "What does the chief assistant think?"

Yes, Xu Jie had to come forward for this matter.

After all, the assistant minister is already a high-ranking official at the deputy ministerial level, and it is a key department like the Ministry of Industry.

If the minister goes one step further, he can become an official of the Six Departments, or even join the cabinet.However, this old father-in-law was not from the Hanlin Academy, so he might not be able to enter the cabinet.

In this way, in order to operate this matter, all the resources in Xu Jie's hands must be mobilized.

Xu Fan looked a little annoyed, and said: "Father only asks me to do things seriously and be a good magistrate. Zimu, you are a close minister of the emperor, if you have any news, you can write to me."

What else could Zhou Nan say, so he nodded: "Yes, if there is any news, my son-in-law will tell Mr. Taishan as soon as possible."

That day, Zhou Nan and Ah Jiu stayed in Xu's mansion to accompany her so-called "parents" to have a meal, and after a short rest, they sent Xu Fan out of the capital with the whole family.

Prefect Xu has stayed at home for nearly a year, and now he finally got a real job. It is an important place like Daming Mansion, and it is not far from the capital, so he can't help feeling high.

He planned to go to Liangxiang first today, and then to Baoding tomorrow.After playing there for a few days, I will go all the way south to Zhending and Shunde, and I will go to Daming Mansion after I have had enough fun.

After sending off the old man, Zhou Nan was about to say goodbye to the Xu family, when a servant from the Xu family came to report that Xu Shoufu had returned home.Said that Miss Nine was returning today, and he held a family banquet.

Alright, keep eating the bar!
After the banquet, Zhou Nan felt a dull pain in his head. This wedding was like drinking all the wine for a year.

Seeing that Zhou Nan was a little drunk, the Xu family left their husband and wife to live in the mansion.

At this time, someone came to invite him again, saying that Mr. Ge was reading in the bookstore and asked Uncle Zhou to go over and talk.

"I've seen Mr. Ge." Zhou Nan went into the study, but saw Xu Jie was sobering up with a cup of tea. He also brewed a cup on the tea table next to him, which was obviously prepared for Zhou Nan long ago.

Mr. Zhou and Xu Shoufu are now grandparents, but the word "grandfather" can't be uttered.

Xu Jie didn't force it, and pointed to the chair beside him with a smile: "Zimu, sit down, the old man has something to ask you. During the day, Faner told you about his going to Daming Mansion?"

Knowing that this matter cannot be hidden from Xu Jie, Zhou Nan nodded, "The father-in-law of Mount Tai did mention that he wanted to be the right servant of the Ministry of Industry, but the emperor has his own concerns about this matter. Moreover, such an important position involves too much, isn't it Anyone can make a decision with a single word. The will of the emperor, the attitude of the officials, and the selection of the cabinet, if there is any problem in any link, it will not be able to be done. Moreover, the boss of Taishan finally became the magistrate of the daimyo. This person has not yet When I took office, I wanted to be a servant, which is too worrying, if people in the science and Taoism know, it will cause troubles for no reason, which is very unwise."

For Xu Fan, Zhou Nan didn't have the slightest liking for him, and he didn't bother to think about him as an official.

"This villain only knows how to ask the old man for his future, but he can't make even a little contribution to the family. Even if the old man pushes him to the position of servant, can he sit still, and is he not afraid of being unworthy?" Xu Jie snorted coldly , full of hatred that iron cannot become steel.

Zhou Nan originally thought that Xu Jie would discuss with him the matter of his father-in-law becoming an official, to see if he could come up with a good solution.But he didn't want to, Xu Jie didn't have the idea of ​​pushing his own son to the top, so he was very surprised.

In front of his son-in-law, Zhou Nan couldn't help but feel a little bit dumbfounded when he called his father-in-law a wicked person.

Xu Jie continued to scold: "The old man is also very old. These years, he has served the country and the father in the court. He has helped many honest gentlemen and offended many villains. The villain is always waiting for the opportunity to plot against the old man. , As for the gentleman, he just remembers my previous affection? Favors are such things that if you use one, you will lose one, and if you want to use it in the most important place, how can you allow that evil person to waste it carelessly. Whether he is a magistrate or a servant, What's the difference to our Xu family."

Zhou Nan didn't know that Xu Jie was very disappointed with his children and grandchildren.

It's true that Xu's family is a wealthy family in Songjiang, and its descendants are well educated.But he is not very discreet, and he bullied men and women in his hometown in his early years, which caused a lot of public grievances.

The whole mansion is full of dudes, none of them can stand on the stage.

Take Xu Fan, who is the most capable, as an example, he has become a dignified person who participates in politics in the whole province.Being idle at home, I only know how to sing the wind and enjoy the moon all day long, and take care of some trivial things.

No matter whether it is eradicating the strict party or making clear the case, there is no strategy to offer.

This kind of incompetent person, if not his own son, would have been abandoned long ago.

The Xu family has a big business, and after a hundred years in the future, they really need smart and capable people to support their appearance.Otherwise, because the Xu family has offended so many people in the political arena, it might end in death.

Compared with his family members, Zhou Nan is simply a shining existence.

The old man has limited resources, instead of wasting them on those useless descendants, it is better to lean towards Zhou Nan...

Mr. Zhou naturally wouldn't know about Xu Ge's hard work.

Zhou Nan thought about it, indeed, what is a minister of the Ministry of Industry, and he is not in charge of an independent unit, nor can he make any contribution to the Xu family.Even if he managed to become a minister, he would not be able to enter the cabinet in the future.Because Xu Jie is a member of the cabinet, in order to avoid suspicion, Xu Fan will not be able to be the top leader of Shangshu or other ministries in the future.

Being a minister of the Ministry of Industry is really not as good as being a daimyo magistrate.

Lao Xu asked me to talk alone tonight, I'm afraid it's not that easy to choose the assistant minister, Zhou Nan thinks so.

Sure enough, Xu Jie quickly got to the point: "I heard that Yan Na, Minister of the Ministry of Rites, had contacted you a while ago, so why?" He smiled: "The dignified uncle of the Ministry of Rites actually couldn't get things done, so he asked his subordinates to leave you, a middle-aged man. Shuke Sheren's connections are quite strange."

"Actually, it was just a trivial matter, that's why I didn't report it to Elder Ge." Zhou Nan roughly talked about the meeting between Yan Shangshu's aide, Mr. Wang, and him.

"Is it really a trivial matter?" Xu Jie smiled softly: "If it is really a trivial matter, you still don't want to be a favor. To refuse so flatly, I think I can recognize it. Not bad, not bad, Zimu, You really have come out of the experience, the old man is very pleased."

Zhou Nan thought to himself: It really is an old fox, even Yan Na's thoughts have been figured out, it's impossible not to admire it.

Now that he had seen through him, Zhou Nan didn't hide his thoughts, and said, "The dignified uncle of the Ministry of Rites and the most important minister of the country, such a trivial matter does not deserve the attention of parents and children. There must be other thoughts in it. The boy has a view of incompetence. I want to have a good time with Mr. Ge. On the surface, it seems that this matter is just to change the true color of Qingzhou in the coming year to Zhe color, but behind it is related to a big change in the central taxation. It is hard to say that this matter is Yan Shangshu, or some people They came to cast stones to ask for directions. They expected that Zhou Nan would report the matter to the chief assistant, and they wanted to find out the attitude of the cabinet."

Then, he began to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of converting all taxes and corvees into cash.

Because she didn't know Xu Jie's position on this reform, Zhou Nan spoke carefully, but her words vaguely revealed her approval for this reform.

Xu Jie couldn't hear it, thought for a while, and said: "It's not impossible if all of them are replaced with Zheshi. In this way, the various figures in the central decision-making will become clear. Moreover, the biggest advantage is that local governments will also It’s a great thing to lose a lot of things.”

Indeed, if a whip method is implemented.Local governments only collect currency when collecting taxes, and the money is handed over to the central government.The imperial court then used cash to buy materials, hire labor, and purchase social services, which also saved a lot of trouble.Moreover, after there is no need to deliver the materials and hand them in, there is no circulation link, and the loss is much reduced, and the burden on the people has also been greatly reduced.

Zhou Nan tentatively asked: "Could it be that the chief assistant intends to reform the old tradition?"

Xu Jie: "Is there any unchanging law in the world? If there is no innovation in the past dynasties, I am afraid that the people are still digging wood to make fire and drinking blood! Everything in the world is like water, always moving forward in constant change. It will continue to move forward. If it is stagnant, it will be a pool of stagnant water. Change is the norm.”

Zhou Nan: "That's great." Thinking in his heart, although old man Xu is a standard Confucian scholar, he is not a rotten Confucian.His words already have some meaning of historical materialism in later generations.Everything in the world is going up in a spiral.Problems cannot be viewed in isolation, statically, or one-sidedly.Otherwise, it is metaphysics.

Actually, Confucianism is not a sign of stubbornness.

Confucianism has always been aggressive.

Xu Jie smiled, as if Zhou Nan's compliment was very useful.

Zhou Nan: "It seems that the first assistant is going to agree to Yan Shangshu's request? The matter in Qingzhou is not big, that is, the cabinet draws up a vote. How to make a decision depends on the intention of the emperor and the supervisor of rituals. Come to think of it, It’s also true over there.” In this era, only a few people can smell it.

He continued: "Actually, the chief assistant in Qingzhou can be more radical. In the coming year, the summer and autumn tributes and local corvees will all be converted into cash, and a pilot project will be done in one prefecture. If it is feasible, it will be gradually promoted."

"It's really radical, this method is not feasible." Xu Jie immediately interrupted Zhou Nan's words.

Zhou Nan was puzzled: "Why?"

Xu Jie: "Converting all taxes and corvees into money is very easy and convenient, but the question arises again, how much should be converted? If there is less, the central tax source will be lost, and the national use will be insufficient. So, what is the significance of the reform? I'm afraid it will increase the burden on the people. Therefore, in the past few decades, the government and the public have been calling for reforms, but none of them have been implemented in the end, and the courtiers have too many worries, so it is better to be quiet than to move."

This is probably the so-called "Huang Zongxi's Law". The decision-makers of the court are worried that every reform will increase the burden on the people, which is also contrary to the original intention of the reform.

(End of this chapter)