However, after thinking about it, I realized that Wen Gui had come to ask for these hundreds of thousands of taels of silver under the pretext of transforming the pier. Zhang Hui was taking money from the bottom of the pot. If this tactic was rejected, there would be no need to raise any money.

Qian Ning looked at Brother Shou's face and saw that he seemed to be hesitating, so he smiled and said: "Second Master Zhang is studying martial arts in the capital, and the Duke of Guo has always been in charge of the capital camp. It is different when he comes to the border. Although Lord Wen Guiwen is

Civil officials, after all, the governor Yansui has been here for many years..."

Zhang Hui interrupted him and simply said: "Although Mr. Wen is the governor of Yansui, he is still a civil servant."

The same thing was said in reverse, but it was a slap in the face. The smile on Qian Ning's face did not change, but his eyes became a little colder.

Brother Shou ignored their argument, waved his hand and said: "Let's not mention the reconstruction of the piers and platforms for the time being, leaving it to the Ministry of War to discuss with the generals. The money to supplement the officials..."

He said coldly: "Don't you think I don't know how many people are going up and down in Beijing this year? Rather than letting everyone line their own pockets, it would be better to clearly mark the price and receive all the money into the treasury."

Shen Rui and others, including Qian Ning, all said anxiously: "Your Majesty, no!"

Brother Shou raised his eyebrows and looked at them without asking any questions, as if waiting for their own reply.

Shen Rui said sternly: "There may be some moths, but if officials are judged entirely by the amount of money they have, I'm afraid there will be few good ministers in the future."

Cai Liang also said: "Civil ministers work hard to protect the guards, and generals work hard to achieve meritorious service in order to be promoted. If you can buy it with money directly, who is willing to work hard and who is willing to die? The emperor is annoyed by those coward ministers and others. They also know that they can only do it for a little bit.

Silverfish will destroy the ambition of people and ministers to strive for progress."

Qian Ning's objection was because if the price was clearly marked, how could people like them receive filial piety? He just said: "The money collected by the military officials to fill the vacancies is actually a false name. People still care about those people, so what else can they do to protect the border?"

Protecting the border has nothing to do with it, but it is different here with the civil servants. The magistrate is bought into the magistrate... he can't still be in charge of the county government, right?"

Brother Shou curled his lips and said, "Then come up with a way. How can we make up for the missing money?"

Qian Ning was the first to say again: "I think it is feasible for border military officers to pay money to make up for their vacancies and atone for their sins. It's just that the price set by Lord Wen is a bit too cheap. In my opinion, it will be enough to increase it three to five times."

Zhang Hui suddenly asked: "How did hundreds of wealthy families know that the military generals at the border could afford this official? The border was bitterly cold, wars were ongoing, and there were regulations on salaries. Where did the money come from to buy the official? And it was tripled or doubled?

"

The endearing smile that had always been on Qian Ning's face finally disappeared. He pursed his lips. It was really hard to answer this question. The border soldiers were extremely poor. Are they military generals? They eat empty pay and drink the soldiers' blood. And

Trade with Tatars privately, and you can always get rich by any means.

Cai Liang saw that the atmosphere was tense, so he smoothed things over calmly: "I thought that the monks and Taoists could collect money from the ultimatum. The monks and Taoists were not involved in production, but relied entirely on the people's worship. There are several large temples in Beijing that are very prosperous, and there are some

The temple property has a lot of income, and the money you pay for the ultimatum is nothing. You can make ten or eighty taels, but the monks and Taoist officials have received less money from the inheritance. Which of the abbots in charge does not have much wealth?"

Brother Shou nodded and suddenly said to Shen Rui: "It's time to build a Taoist temple for Tianliangzi Zhenren. It's in Xiyuan. What do you think?"

The corner of Shen Rui's mouth twitched. The little emperor was really addicted to making money. Is he seeing other temples getting soft on the sesame oil money and wanted to use Tianliangzi to make money?

"If we set up a view of Xiyuan's territory, make some offerings, and sell some wild medicines, we can still make tens of thousands taels a year." Shen Rui thought for a moment and said, "It's just a drop in the bucket. I actually remembered a story I read in a storybook.

, maybe it can be used.”

Brother Shou raised his eyebrows with interest and motioned for him to continue.

Shen Rui said: "The story is lengthy, so I won't go into details one by one. There is only one paragraph, which is about the death of a man's daughter-in-law. In order to have a beautiful funeral and a beautiful memorial tablet, he took 1,200 taels of silver and donated a false name for his son.

The fifth-rank official."

Brother Shou was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "County squires and wealthy businessmen have a good reputation, so there are some people who behave like this. You mean, Xu merchants donate their official positions?"

Shen Rui shook his head and said: "But there are businessmen who are willing to donate their empty positions, either for the sake of a good reputation, or to break the restrictions, to be decent and good-looking in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation, or even more simply, just to not kneel down to the county magistrate. But, it is just a false position,

It is also easy to raise the hearts of these people who are greedy for vanity, and their official positions are no longer valuable, just like what I and Brother Cai Liu just said, it makes the officials on the right path feel cold.

He paused, his eyes burning, and said: "There is another way to donate an official position. Just like the story Cai Chen told, it is easy to have a nice funeral. If you don't donate an official position for the living, you can donate an official official position for the dead.

."

Brother Shou curled his lips and said, "Following the title?"

Shen Rui nodded and said: "Exactly. If the person mentioned in the story just now is the deceased daughter-in-law, it would naturally be more cost-effective to donate an official position to the son and then ask for a royal title. But if the widowed old mother passed away, it would be better to directly

Allow him to donate his life, so that the old man can live in mourning and glory."

At this time, the country should be governed with filial piety. Regardless of whether one was filial during life or not, one must pay attention to mourning and honor after death.

Brother Shou also knew this very well, so he couldn't help but put on a mocking smile: "That's right. It's true."

Shen Rui added: "Besides this, there is another kind. The emperor may not know it. Among the people, many merchant families who have made a fortune in one or two generations, because their ancestors are not famous enough, are often willing to spend a lot of money to marry some 'noble families' with the same surname."

Famous families are linked to each other in order to have a "famous" background. This is not all for the sake of appearance and sound good. Sometimes when negotiating business, having the endorsement of a famous family is more advantageous. Furthermore, when choosing a marriage for your children, there is such a thing

People with a famous background can also get better marriages."

"I believe that this donation of officials can only be for the deceased. You can donate official titles or official posts for ancestors, both of which are in the fifth to seventh ranks. If many people donate officials for ancestors, it will cause a 'hairpin' tassel."

The result is that it is not only cheaper, but also more expensive. There are many wealthy businessmen in the south who have made a fortune for one or two generations, so I think many people are willing to spend the money."

Brother Shou clapped his hands and said with a smile: "It's very wonderful, very wonderful. It's good to donate officials to the dead. The positions on the left and right are all empty, and they don't have much salary. It's not bad, not bad."

Zhang Hui also smiled and said: "How did Shen Er come up with this?"

Brother Shou said: "This person who is good at cultivating goods is different."

Shen Rui smiled bitterly and said: "I can't tell whether you are praising me or hurting me. I don't know whether this strategy is feasible. The emperor should discuss it with the cabinet. The Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Rites will also discuss the specific official position, money, etc."

and the method of payment.”

Brother Shou smiled and said, "I'm complimenting you. You've thought about it very carefully. I'll talk to several pavilion elders when I get back."

Shen Rui responded repeatedly, thought for a while and then said: "In addition, we must also think of a good name for donating an official. Being famous as a philanthropic person is buying a reputation. Selling an official to get a title is always not good-looking."

Brother Shou pointed at Shen Rui and said with a smile: "What a profiteer. With the reputation of a good man who built bridges and paved roads, I'm afraid more people will want to buy it."

Shen Rui said with a smile: "I am just trying to create a selling point, no better than Your Majesty. You can pick it up at your fingertips. They are all selling points. Two days ago, Lu Erqi, the son-in-law of the real person Tianliangzi, came back from Liaodong and brought back a group of horses.

Most of them are white horses. Only then did I know that Your Majesty allowed the new scholars to ride white horses in Xiyuan, and the white horses in the capital were sold out, and everyone thought it was beautiful to ride a white horse."

Brother Shou was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly and said: "Really? Hahaha, this is unintentional." He thought for a while, then smiled and said to Zhang Hui: "When will the Jingwei Martial Arts Academy review? We will also bring Xiyuan here. Show it to the people and let them imitate this macho spirit!"

Zhang Hui and Cai Liang all laughed and applauded.

Qian Ning smiled at the side and said: "Shen Chuanlu is really a great talent." His words seemed to be sincere praise, not sarcastic, but his smile was somewhat superficial.

Liu Zhong, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke up and said: "All of you are talented people. You are still wise and have a keen eye to recognize talents."

Brother Shou smiled and rolled his eyes when he heard this. Qian Ning was even more clever. He knelt down and said loudly: "Holy king and wise minister, God bless the Ming Dynasty."

Brother Shou smiled even more heartily.

Behind him, Liu Zhong quickly glanced at Shen Rui and lowered his eyelids.

Shen Rui understood in his heart that it was time to have a serious discussion with Liu Zhong about dealing with Qian Ning.

I heard Brother Shou say: "Then Lu Erqilang is back? Just in time, after he drinks your wedding wine, let him go to Shanxi and Shaanxi. He is doing well in Liaodong. Let's see what he can do in the west. Some kind of business can alleviate the problem of money shortage here."

He turned his gaze to Zhang Hui and said, "You should also go over and see if it is feasible to rebuild the pier."

*

Not only Lu Erqilang and Shen Chun who came back from Liaodong came to attend Shen Rui's wedding this time, but in early April, the Lu family of Shandong, the Lu family of Songjiang, and the Shen clan, relatives and friends also arrived in Beijing.

Wang Shouren is still focused on wiping out the remaining pirates along the coast. He cannot leave his post lightly, so his wife He Yingzhi and her son came north to congratulate him.

He Yingzhi is He Taizhi's sister. This time she came not only with her own gifts, but also with the gifts of Bachelor He.

He Taizhi had not seen his eldest sister for a year, so he was very happy. However, the old man Wang Hua was in Beijing, so He Yingzhi naturally could not live in Shen Mansion. He took his son to live in Ge Lao Mansion, so he could only come here every now and then. He Taizhi, who vowed to play with his nephew every day, could not help but be disappointed.

Shen Li, who was also in office, had already taken leave and was planning to return to Beijing to attend Shen Rui's wedding, but unexpected circumstances prevented him from making the trip.

There was a severe drought in Jinan Prefecture last year, and the imperial court asked the summer tax to be kept for disaster relief. There was not much snow throughout the winter, and there were signs of a locust plague at the turn of spring and summer. Chief Secretary, Prime Minister, Civil Affairs, Land and Soil, etc., and Shen Li He has been responsible for disaster relief, so this time it is really inseparable.

Shen Li had no choice but to let Xie return to Beijing accompanied by her eldest son Shen Lin.

When she came back this time, Mrs. Xie seemed to be a changed person. Maybe it was because she was richer, but her whole person seemed softer, her words and deeds were less aggressive, and she seemed to be particularly close to Mr. Xu. When Shen Shen The female relatives of the family are also quite kind.

Even Mrs. He couldn't help but whisper to Mrs. Xu behind her back: "This is the time when Mr. Xie Ge has become an official. It's really different."

In the past, because the He family was the daughter-in-law of a concubine who had been expelled from the clan, the Xu family recognized her as a shelter for her goddaughter, so she received a lot of looks and cold words from the Xie family.

This time when Mrs. Xie came back, she smiled kindly and asked her how old Brother Xiaonan was, what books she had read, and so on. She also gave Brother Xiaonan a set of four treasures of the study and some Shandong specialties, which really surprised Mrs. He.

Mrs. Xu just smiled and patted her, sighing: "She has her own difficulties, don't be too demanding."

The fifth house was in mourning at the end of last year, and Shen Rui was preparing for the Chunwei exam, so he was unable to go back to attend Master Hong's wedding ceremony, which he deeply regretted.

This time, Shen Qi, the patriarch of the fifth family, had to preside over clan affairs and could not come. Hong's eldest wife, Guo, came to Beijing with her youngest daughter Fu Jie'er, Shen Ying's family, and Shen Quan's family.

In addition to attending Shen Rui's wedding, Shen Ying also sought revenge for herself.

Although the filial piety was born last year, firstly it was near the end of the year, and secondly because this year is the year of Beijing Chao, maybe a better missing child will come out after a while.

Shen Ying is about to resurrect, Shen Rui has now entered the Hanlin Academy, and the Shen family's atmosphere in the capital is different. This time, more clan members have followed, planning to find a job in the capital to help Shen Ying's brother.

Also coming with the Shen family were Lu Sanlang of the Lu family, and Lu Lan, the eldest son of the head of the Lu family, which shows how much the Lu family attaches great importance to it.

In addition, there was actually an aide named Fu from Dong Qihe, the prefect of Songjiang, among his colleagues.

Like Shen Ying, this person came not only to attend the wedding to get closer to the Shen family, but also to work for Dong Weng's official position.

Dong Qihe also completed his three-year term this year. With his qualifications and political achievements, it is impossible for him to be promoted. There is no better place than Songjiang Mansion, a prosperous place, so he called people to Beijing this time. , seeking re-election.

Especially since he had requested an order to build a shipyard last year, and the shipyard had just been built. If he was transferred away, wouldn't he be able to make wedding clothes for others? If he could be re-elected, this political achievement would be firmly in his hands. In addition, Six years of experience as a prefect is enough for him to be promoted to another level.

From his point of view, he has a harmonious relationship with the Shen family, and considering how much the Shen family cares about the shipyard, they will definitely be willing to help him.
To be continued...