Unlike the performance in later TV dramas, although silver flowed in large quantities in the Ming Dynasty due to the Age of Discovery, the price of silver was also extremely high. A border army fought hard and only nine cents per month. After seven or eight deductions from officers at all levels, it would be good if they could get five cents. A seventh-rank magistrate's monthly salary was only seven stones of white rice. According to the current price of rice, the monthly salary of a county magistrate was about fifteen taels. Ma Cheng's cheap man Ma Shiying, as a second-rank governor, was only sixty-one stone per month, and the credit of silver was more than one hundred and twenty taels.

Of course, silver in the Ming Dynasty was extremely valuable. According to Jin Ping Mei, Ximen Qing's family spent less than one tael of silver after eating crabs. Therefore, Ma Shiying's monthly salary of more than one tael of silver is still considerable. However, the Ming Dynasty is different from later generations. The salary for later generations is for your personal life, but the salary of officials in the Ming Dynasty has to be supported by the entire yamen. That is, the yamen from the master who gave advice for you to the old man who was guarding the door, they all had to pay you a salary. This way, it is really not enough to make more than one hundred taels of silver.

However, chickens don’t pee and have their own ways. How can living people suffocate to death? Naturally, officials from all over the country began to generate income. They were cruel and clever and made a name to scrape the ground. In order for the yamen to operate normally, they could only follow the trend. After all, officials like Hai Rui were still too rare.

When the four personal soldiers heard that the second master rewarded each of them with ten taels of silver, which was equivalent to their six-year salary. You should know that the salary of the personal soldiers of the Governor was very high, reaching nearly thirty taels a year, but only seventeen or eighteen taels were deducted by the chief officials at all levels, which was several times higher than those big-headed soldiers. Now Ma Cheng opened his mouth ten taels, how could he not make these personal soldiers happy?

The four personal soldiers quickly knelt down on their knees and thanked, "My little man thanked the reward of Yanei!" The little man is a recent name. Only Ma Cheng's Changsu can call himself a villain, which is similar to the slaves of the Qing Dynasty in later generations. Although slaves are not nice, slaves are the emperor's slaves and are not something ordinary people can regard.

Ma Cheng was very happy and waved his hand to ask Gu San to get the silver. Gu San had no choice but to take out forty tael silver from his arms and give it to the four of them.

Just as Ma Cheng was enjoying the flattery of four personal soldiers, a cold snorted from the door of the three halls: "Hmph! If the general manager is not at home, will you be lazy?"

Ma Cheng looked up and saw a middle-aged civil servant standing at the door of the Santang. He was wearing a green official uniform, with a patch on his chest, and a stupid bird like a crane embroidered on it. Ma Cheng didn't know that this official was a fifth-rank official, and the stupid bird he saw was a egret. The official uniforms of the Ming Dynasty were embroidered with various animals, civil servants were birds, and military officers were animals. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, animals were not derogatory, but were a real compliment, which means that you can become an official.

The four personal soldiers turned around when they heard this voice, and quickly knelt down on one knee and said in unison: "I have seen Master Yue!"

The civil servant said coldly, "Why did you run inside if you don't stand guard at the door?" After that, he looked at the silver in the hands of the four people, and then said, "I have accepted bribes and see how the general manager will deal with you when he comes back! I haven't gone out to stand guard yet!"

The four personal soldiers were punished but were not panicked. They turned around and bowed to Ma Cheng and then went out to stand guard without mentioning them.

When Gu San saw the civil servant, he hurried forward and saluted, "The villain Gu San has seen Master Gu!"

The middle-aged official ignored Gu San and frowned and looked at Ma Cheng: "Zhonghe, why are you like this?"

Ma Cheng was injured yesterday and now he is still wearing gauze on his head. Ma Cheng is wearing a light green long gown, so he looks different no matter how he looks.

When Gu San saw Ma Cheng not speaking, he knew that the master had forgotten who the civil servant was in front of him. He quickly whispered to the side: "Second Master, this is Master Gu Yue!"

Ma Cheng remembered after Gu San reminded him that the civil servant in front of him was his own uncle and one of the aides of his father Ma Shiying. The Huaibei military guards were well-known for Yue Qijie. (There are many statements about Yue Qijie in history. Some materials record that he was Yang Wencong’s uncle, and some materials record that he was Ma Shiying’s brother-in-law. However, the history of the late Ming Dynasty was a bad debt. No one knew the true relationship between Yue Qijie and Ma Shiying, but Yue Qijie was Ma Shiying’s confidant, so this book needs to arrange Yue Qijie as Ma Shiying’s brother-in-law for the plot.)

When Ma Cheng heard Gu San talk about the situation at home, he knew that the two most important strategists who are following Ma Shiying are Yue Qijie and Yang Wencong. These two are Ma Shiying's brother-in-law. Yue Qijie married Ma Shiying's sister, and Yang Wencong married Ma Shiying's cousin.

As the saying goes, "A good uncle brings a kinship, and it's broken bones and tendons. Ma Cheng knew that Yue Qijie's status was extraordinary. In addition to being his elder, he was also the confidant of his father Ma Shiying. Such people naturally have to make friends with each other vigorously.

Ma Cheng quickly packed up his knees and knelt down and said, "My nephew Ma Cheng has met his uncle!"

Ma Cheng did not understand the etiquette of the Ming Dynasty. He only kowtowed when he saw his elders on TV in later generations, so he followed suit. In fact, it is not a formal occasion now, and Ma Cheng gave a bow, so he didn't need a big gift to worship. However, Yue Qijie's wife is Ma Shiying's real sister, so it is not too much for Ma Cheng to give a big gift.

Yue Qijie used to know that Ma Cheng was a very naughty boy. He whistled in the countryside every day, but he didn't expect how he changed his temperament and gave him a big gift today.

This kind of etiquette is mutual. Ma Cheng knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and Yue Qijie, who is an elder, also has to return the favor.

Yue Qijie sorted out his clothes and started to give him a gift, then stepped forward to help Ma Cheng and asked, "Zhong and nephew, please get up quickly!" It seems that Ma Cheng's courtesy is still useful, and Yue Qijie has the word "女子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子子�

Zhonghe is the name Ma Cheng, with three sons of Ma Shiying. The eldest son Ma Luan and the second son Ma Cheng and the second son Ma Cheng and the third son Ma Xi and the third son Ma Xi and the name Shuda.

Ma Cheng stood up with Yue Qijie's support and bowed and asked, "Didn't your uncle go to see Shi Kefa with his father?"

Yue Qijie heard Ma Cheng ask, snorted and said, "Hmph! In order to leave a good impression on Shi Kefa, your father took your uncle there. After all, Long Friend and Shi Kefa have a close relationship. As for me, I definitely can't bring it with me!"

Yue Qijie said that his uncle was Yang Wencong, another counselor of Ma Shiying. Yang Wencong, whose courtesy name was Longyou, was also from Guizhou. However, he has been living in the Nanzhili area for many years and has a close relationship with some literati in Nanzhili. This time, Ma Shiying went to Pukou to meet Shi Kefa, who was a student of Donglin's boss Zuo Guangdou, and Yang Wencong was very familiar with the people of the Donglin Party. This time, in order to gain connections, Ma Shiying brought Yang Wencong with him.

As for Yue Qijie, it is different. Yue Qijie is from Guiyang. He was a juren in the 34th year of Wanli. In the early years of Chongzhen, he served as the deputy envoy of the Bazhou military preparations. In order to deal with bandits in Henan, Shandong and other places, Yue Qijie and the eunuch Lu Jiude, the eunuch in Zhongdu, fought side by side many times, so Yue Qijie and Lu Jiude had a good relationship. However, this time Ma Shiying was going to meet the Donglin Party, so naturally he could not bring Yue Qijie, who had a good relationship with the eunuch.

Ma Cheng didn't know the dirty things among Ma Shiying's aides, but he was worried about supporting the new king. Today he finally met someone who could speak, so he naturally had to ask clearly.

"Uncle, I heard that my father wants to support King Gui or King Lu. Is this a matter?"

Yue Qijie looked at Ma Cheng. He felt strange about a useless second-generation ancestor who suddenly cared about national affairs, but Yue Qijie didn't think too much. Yue Qijie sighed and said, "Your virtue nephew, you are right. Your father wanted to support King Lu under the encouragement of Yang Longyou!"

When Ma Cheng heard Yue Qijie say this, he quickly pulled Yue Qijie's sleeve and said, "Uncle, you want to persuade your father not to support King Gui or King Lu, this will not be good for our Ma family!"

Yue Qijie didn't expect Ma Cheng to say this, and asked curiously: "Nephew, why did you say this?"

Ma Cheng calmed down, sorted out the information that appeared on the Internet in his mind, and then talked: "Uncle, you should support King Fu according to the national etiquette and law, which is a matter of justice. But why did those guys in the Donglin Party insist on supporting King Lu and King Gui? Isn't they just afraid that King Fu will come to the stage to settle the score with them? Another point is that the support of the Donglin Party was first proposed by the Donglin Party. If King Lu came to power, the Donglin Party would become the first to be the first to be the dragon. My father could only make a second-class merit at most. My father is now the second-rank governor, and he will enter the cabinet if he takes another step forward. Can those guys in the Donglin Party watch their father, an outsider, enter the cabinet? So my father has been abandoned for a long time and will eventually be useless!"

These words Ma Cheng said were all over the streets in later generations. As long as you enter Ma Shiying and the Donglin Party online, millions of them will immediately appear. However, Yue Qijie doesn't think so. Yue Qijie is a person in the game and can analyze the causes and consequences of the matter thoroughly. However, Ma Cheng is a famous waste second-generation ancestor, and is proficient in everything from eating, drinking, whore and gambling. He would never imagine this kind of court politics.

Yue Qijie frowned and asked, "Zhong and nephew, who said these words to you?"

Ma Cheng sighed and said, "Uncle, my uncle used to be fooled and just wanted to play in the world. After all, my eldest brother was there at home, and my Ma family couldn't sink into the trap. In addition, the imperial examination was too tiring, so my nephew was too lazy to be depressed. But now it's different. The country is at a critical moment of life and death, and my Ma family encountered this stall again. The support matters are not careless, and it would be a big disaster. My nephew really couldn't bear to see my father going on the wrong path, so my nephew had to speak out, hoping that my uncle could listen to my nephew's advice and persuade his father to return to the right track and support King Fu ascend the throne!"

After hearing Ma Cheng's words, Yue Qijie looked up and down at Ma Cheng several times, as if he had known Ma Cheng again, and then grabbed Ma Cheng's hand and said, "The ancients said that if he didn't make a sound, it would be a shocking sound. I'm a big shot today. I didn't expect that Ma Cheng, you are a sensible person. You can see the cause and effect of the matter. You are much better than your elder brother!"
Chapter completed!