Lord of the House

After arranging the expansion of the water camp, Lin Fu went to patrol the north along the seawall. On the second day of the lunar month, he summoned Liu Tingzhou, Liang Wenzhan, Xiao Kuian, Hu Dahai and others in Yandu.

What has caused Liu Tingzhou a headache recently is the rise in food prices.

In the Jianghuai Zhufu counties, tax collection has long been realized in the form of money. While the efficiency is improved, it is destined to be affected by the sharp rise and fall of prices.

A certain proportion of the expropriation from the counties is withheld, and the rest is paid to the county governors and settled in silver. Affected by the soaring food prices, the county ministers asked the prefectures to impose an additional 40% on food losses. Spread it on the head of Huaidong Mansion, that is, to levy an additional 50,000 taels of silver.

At the same time, Liu Tingzhou was also the leader of the Huaidong Army, and was responsible for supplying the 20,000-strong Huaidong Army with salaries.

The assignment of the county commander to the military leader is settled in silver, and the military leader buys military rations and other materials nearby.

Now Liu Tingzhou is in charge of the Huaidong Army's yamen, who is responsible for supplying about 13,000 stone rations and vegetables, salt charcoal, meat and other substances to the garrison in Shanyang, Suining, Suyu and other places every month. Rising shock.

The actual purchasing power of the silver money drawn by the commander of the army to the commander of the army has dropped by 30% - the additional levy from the commander to the Huai'an Mansion will make up for the loss of food, but the money given to the commander of the army will not bear the loss of food, so Liu Tingzhou should think about it first. way to supplement.

Liu Tingzhou worked hard for the imperial court and obeyed Yue Lengqiu's words. At this time, he was anxious to scold his mother.

Even if the price of food stabilizes and does not rise uncontrollably, he will have to raise an extra 112,000 taels of silver—the magistrates below will not understand Liu Tingzhou's hard work, and keep shouting about the difficulties.

If he dared to spread out, it would end up on the farmer's head or the farmer who owns a large amount of land. Liu Tingzhou, who was familiar with the common affairs, could figure it out by snapping his toes.

Liu Tingzhou was also a little ashamed to see Lin Bie.

As early as mid-July, Lin Fu foresaw the possibility of soaring food prices, and he made it clear that in the name of the Military Secretary, he suggested that the Huaidong Prefectures and counties levy taxes instead of silver coins to be paid for rice grains, so as to avoid the prefectures' finances from being affected by the soaring grain prices. shock.

For ordinary farmers, paying grain is one less procedure to sell grain than paying silver, and it is not inconvenient. Even if the price of grain soars, ordinary farmers will not enjoy the benefits; the ones who enjoy the benefits are the landowners who own a large amount of land and hold a large amount of grain rent. As long as it is determined in advance that the change to silver and grain will be established, and the established facts are formed, the landowners headed by the local clan gentry forces will naturally not have many voices of opposition.

Liu Tingzhou has always interfered with the affairs of the prefecture and county by Lin Fu. Lin Fu issued a letter of advice in the name of the Military Secretary in mid-July. Except for the execution of Shanyang County, which was under the control of Liang Wenzhan, Huai'an prefecture regarded it as waste paper in other counties.

The results are obvious, Shanyang County's autumn grain collection of 190,000 shi of rice (plus income from public fields) has not been affected at all, and even enjoyed the benefits of rising grain prices. Shanyang County actually underpaid nearly 20,000 shi of rice grain when it settled the tax and grain settlement with the prefecture.

Compared to before, Huai'an Prefecture and other counties will have to bear nearly 100,000 taels of grain damage before the tax is levied next summer.

The Huai'an Prefecture also benefited greatly from the Mafu case, which improved its finances. Liu Tingzhou could barely cope with the additional grain losses from the county governor, but the military commander's side was short of nearly 6,000 taels of silver per month.

While Liu Tingzhou sent people to the county government to quarrel and file a lawsuit, he could only ask Lin Fuduo to be tolerant and give him more time to raise money.

Lin Fu's face was gloomy, his brows were furrowed, and his voice was suppressed, and he said, "Master Liu, please come to the military camp in person, and ask the generals to tighten their belts. He said that the military leader was neglectful for a while and did not realize that food prices would rise in advance, so In the future, please tighten your trouser belts by three points when you eat..."

Song Jia couldn't help laughing out loud when she heard it, but just buried herself in transcribing the paper.

Liu Tingzhou's old face turned into a pig liver color, he was embarrassed and embarrassed, but he couldn't walk away, and he had to hold back his voice and plead: "My lord said something in July, but the lower officials did not pay attention to it, it's really a sin , it's just that the military leader is really difficult right now..."

"This official doesn't interfere in the affairs of the government and county. You want to listen to those words or not. It's up to you. I can't help you." You, the commander of the prefecture pursued the grain loss from the Huai'an mansion, and the commander of the army should also claim the food damage from the prefectural division. The two deductions are almost the same. How did you do it? Use the surplus of the Huai'an mansion to make up the grain loss to the prefectural division. , but you want me to bear the food loss of the military leader for you, you think I am easy to bully!"

Liu Tingzhou's reputation in Huaian Mansion is very high, Lin Fu and Liu Tingzhou have been at odds for a long time, but when they met in the past, they could meet each other with courtesy, but this time they slapped the table and scolded them.

Xiao Kuian and Hu Dahai stood in the hall, listening to Lin Fie slapping the table and reprimanding Liu Tingzhou, and he didn't even dare to say a word, let alone help Liu Tingzhou to argue!

Liang Wenzhan stood in the hall, squinting and resting, so he was marked with a deep Huaidong clique on his body. He is not in a hurry. In this world, going to another place to become an official is far from being safe in Huaidong.

Lin Fu's power gradually increased, and his prestige in Huai'an was unparalleled for a while. Although Liu Tingzhou was controlled by him, as a senior official of the age of Pentecost, he also had some muddy temperament. Liu Tingzhou couldn't leave without his hands, so he didn't speak with a cold face, and the atmosphere was cold there.

"Although Mr. Liu has two positions as the prefect of Huai'an and the commander-in-chief of the Huaidong Army, the two sides operate in two separate systems, that is, the officials responsible for the envoy and the governor's office are separated. The food losses on both sides cannot be simplified. For a simple deduction, Mr. Liu is also bitter and can't say it..." Although Uncle Tang En, the censor of Huaidong Prosecutor's Office, had no intention of contradicting Lin Bie, it was not the case that the atmosphere was frozen. He could help Liu Tingzhou with a word or two in the hall. He was the only one who said, "Because of the loss of food for the army leader, Mr. Liu dragged the officer and ran to the county chief to make a scene last time, Mr. Wang promised to add more money, but it was not in time for a while. dial down..."

"Master Wang" in Uncle Tang's mouth refers to Wang Tian, ​​the envoy of Xuanfu.

At that time, the government did not have much ability to cope with the financial crisis at all. Wang Tian was struggling at this time, plugging leaks and filling the gaps everywhere. Huaidong was always raised by his stepmother. Huaidong.

Uncle Tang En opened his mouth to help, Lin Fu's tone was better, but the content of what he said was still rude: "The situation in Hailing is not necessarily better than that in Huai'an, why doesn't Hailing have these things?"

Lin Fu said this, and Liu Tingzhou was even more embarrassed.

Compared with Liu Tingzhou, Liu Shidu, the prefect of Hailing, was regarded as a soft-faced official who had no position.

In the name of Chu Cun, Lin Fu recommended subordinate officials to the counties, but the eleven counties in Huaidong failed to reject them in the end.

However, in Huai'an Mansion, many officials recommended by Liu Tingzhou and the military commander were isolated to the counties and could not be contacted. As for Hailing Mansion, Liu Shidu did not support it and did not support it, and let the counties take control of it by themselves, so the situation was good and bad.

In mid-July, Lin Fu suggested that the prefectures and counties should change the silver levy, but Liu Shidu also did not support it.

In July, the Jiangning military discussed that the additional money paid to the Huaidong Military Division was borne by the Hailing House, totaling more than 120,000 taels of silver. This part was the first to be changed in the counties of Hailing Prefecture, and the officials recommended by the Huaidong Military Division were used for this matter, and the 120,000 taels plus silver were all changed to the actual collection of rice grains, totaling 180,000 stone grains. , so the impact this time was much less than that of Huai'an.

Xiao Kuian understood this when he heard this. Lin Fu was so angry that he was still dissatisfied with the neglect of his visit to Huai'an Mansion in July and the neglect of officers recommended by the military commander in the counties of Huai'an Mansion. This was to force Liu Tingzhou to bow his head.

Thinking about it, it is no wonder that if Huai'an House paid attention to the military secretary's July post, even if it reached the level of Hailing House, at least it would be able to avoid paying 50,000 taels of food damage for no reason.

However, Master Liu is also difficult to do. Xiao Kuian thought to himself, if his attitude softened this time and he lowered his head, how could the military commander intervene in the affairs of the county in the future?

"I don't care how the military leader raises money - but, if the Suining, Suyu, and Shanyang armies cause trouble due to lack of food, no one of you here can take this responsibility! Think about it carefully!" Lin Fuhuo With a stern face, with a threatening warning to everyone in the hall, he paused and said, "I'm tired today, what's the matter, I'll talk about it tomorrow! Master Liang, wait a moment."

He said that he was tired~www.wuxiaspot.com~ ordered to evict guests, but asked Liang Wenzhan to stay and discuss matters, which was too undisguised.

Liu Tingzhou's face was ashen, he gave a stiff bow, and walked out first. Uncle Tang, Xiao Kuian, Hu Dahai and others saluted and retired one after another. Liang Wenzhan bowed and sent Liu Tingzhou, Uncle Tang and others away first.

When Liu Tingzhou left, Lin Fu asked Liang Wenzhan to sit down and talk, sighed and said, "Liu Tingzhou is still a capable person, and he is so devastated, it shows how bad the situation in other prefectures and counties can be!"

"Xuzhou is even more difficult!" Liang Wenzhan said.

On the Xuzhou side, it wasn't that Zhang Yubo was incompetent, it was just that the war lasted for nearly a year the previous year, which had completely ruined Xuzhou's foundation. Given Xuzhou's situation, it has to bear the sustenance of nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses of Chen Han's third department. How could Xuzhou not be difficult? How could Zhang Yubo not be difficult in Xuzhou?

No matter how difficult Zhang Yubo was, Lin Fu would never have the possibility to support him with money and food to help Chen Hansan's department!

Under such circumstances, the peasant households who had just returned to their hometown in Xuzhou had to bear heavy taxes, and they kept fleeing. As a result, although the Red Jacket Army operating in the area west of Bianshui was successively defeated by Chen Zhihu's troops, their strength never suffered a serious setback.

After Liu Xilin led his troops into Xuzhou with Zhang Yubo, he directly controlled the mines in the northeastern part of Xuzhou under Lin Fu's instruction. Now, by sending coal and iron to Shanyang in exchange for money and grain, he can support two thousand soldiers and horses.

The contradictions in Xuzhou will become more and more acute, unless Chen Hansan can be driven away! However, Jiangning did not want to see Chen Hansan betrayed again and again, and Huaidong did not want Chen Hansan to join the Liang family. Until there was no other good way, he could only let the current situation drag on. On the one hand, it is to strengthen Liu Xilin's military strength in Xuzhou. My QT room is open! More vulgar official QT room number [9167] Click to enter