Chapter 195: Didn’t we agree to be good officials? Why did we share the spoils collectively! (Please subscribe!!) The middle-aged businessman surnamed Hu smiled bitterly and said: "Businessmen all over the world are building the Great Wall together and erecting monuments and carving inscriptions. How can I not come to such a big event!"
"Businessmen from all over the world are building the Great Wall together?!" Xu Liang was shocked, "Brother Hu, we in Beizhili have never said that. Basically, we recruit local businessmen."
The businessman surnamed Hu shook his head, "Brother Xu, you in Beizhili did not say this, but it is spread outside. Besides, you didn't say that businessmen from other provinces are not allowed to participate in the construction of the Great Wall, right?"
"This really doesn't exist." Xu Liang shook his head.
"Brother Xu, to tell you the truth, after I got the news, I rushed all night and finally came to Beiping City, but I heard that the contractor quota was already full."
The middle-aged businessman surnamed Hu looked regretful, "If I can't participate in this prosperous era, it will be a lifelong regret for me."
"Fortunately, Brother Xu, you are the prefect of Beiping. You can definitely help me with this matter, right?"
Xu Liang said helplessly: "Brother Hu, I really can't help you with this matter. The selection of contractors has ended, and the Great Wall has begun to be repaired. There is really nothing I can do."
Hearing this, the businessman surnamed Hu clapped his hands, and immediately two servants came in carrying a box.
"Open!"
As the box opened, there were ingots of white silver inside.
"Brother Hu, what are you doing?"
"Brother Xu, here is 2 taels of silver. If you help me become a contractor for the Great Wall repair, I will give you 3 taels of silver later!"
The businessman surnamed Hu smiled.
hiss--
Spending 5 taels of silver to buy a contractor quota is such a big deal!
Xu Liang swallowed. Although he was the prefect of Peiping and held a fourth-rank official position, this was the first time he saw someone bribe him with so much money.
But he absolutely cannot ask for this money.
Since Ouyang Lun came to Beiping City, he has done one more thing, that is, he often arranges for officials to hold symposiums on democratic life. These meetings do not talk about political affairs, but tell stories. What stories are they telling? "The Case of Hu Weiyong's Rebellion" "The Empty Printing Corruption Case" and so on, vividly describe how the officials in these cases were corrupted and how they were finally interrogated in prison. Ouyang Lun even invited some corrupt officials who were exiled to give their own testimony. On Xu Liang's desk now is a book called "Records of Corruption" compiled and illustrated by Yong'an Daily. In addition to describing the fate of officials after corruption, it also describes how corrupt officials were interrogated, tortured, beheaded, and... The scene of confiscating the family and exterminating the family is very realistically drawn.
So even though Xu Liang was very moved by the white money in front of him, he didn't dare to reach out.
"Brother Hu, what are you doing!"
"Take it away quickly, otherwise I will convict you of bribing court officials and your life will be at risk!"
The businessman surnamed Hu was quite surprised when he heard what Xu Liang said. In his impression, although Xu Liang was not a huge corrupt person, he was not a cool person either. Why did he seem to be a different person when he came to Peiping?
"Brother Xu, there are only two of us here. Although we haven't seen each other for several years, we are close friends. I won't talk nonsense about this matter. Just accept it with peace of mind." The businessman surnamed Hu said quickly.
"Hu Deren, I say it again, take your money away immediately!"
"I really can't help you. If you still treat me as a friend, then don't harm me!"
Seeing Xu Liang's resolute attitude, Hu Deren also understood that this was not a test, but that the other party really didn't want it.
"In that case, I will take my leave."
Just when Hu Deren was about to leave, he heard someone shouting outside.
"Everyone, hurry up and go to the Chief Secretary's Yamen! The Chief Secretary is openly collecting money to sell his quota!!"
"Really?"
"Why are you lying to me? The chief envoy is right here."
Uh-huh! ? ?
Hearing the news, Hu Deren was dumbfounded, and Xu Liang was also dumbfounded.
The two looked at each other, and then moved away from each other in tacit understanding.
"Why are you two still standing there? Why don't you hurry up and carry the box? Let's go to the Chief Secretary's Yamen!"
"Goodbye, Brother Xu!"
After saying that, Hu Deren left in a hurry.
Forehead. Xu Liang watched Hu Deren leave, becoming more and more confused.
what's the situation? The co-author asked us to be upright officials, while Mr. Ouyang made money crazily? !
"Come on!"
"Master Prefect."
"I just said outside that the Chief Minister is openly selling contractor quotas. Is this true?"
"It seems to be true. Many businessmen rushed over."
"Let's go and have a look!"
"Yes."
By the time Xu Liang arrived at the Chief Secretary's Yamen in a sedan chair, the place was already crowded with businessmen from all over the country.
Ouyang Lun was standing on a temporary high platform, smiling as he received box after box of money.
"Shandong businessman He Kui offered 5000 taels of silver!"
"Henan businessman Wang Defa donated 1 taels of silver!"
"Guangdong businessman Liu Liuliu offered 5000 taels of silver!"
Xu Liang squeezed for a long time and finally squeezed in front of Ouyang Lun.
"Master Ouyang!"
"Oh! Magistrate Xu is here!" Ouyang Lun saw Xu Liang and smiled, "You came just in time, help me collect the money, I will go in and rest for a while!"
"Forehead"
Before Xu Liang could speak, Ouyang Lun had already left.
As a last resort, Xu Liang could only bite the bullet and start collecting money.
"Hey, Brother Xu, look, you still have to collect the money!"
Hu Deren came to Xu Liang with a smile.
Xu Liang looked helpless, "Fujian businessman Hu Deren offered 5 taels of silver!"
After collecting the money for two or three hours, I finally finished collecting it. I looked at the account book and found that it was at least several million taels.
"Sir Ouyang, are we being so greedy and accepting money, are we doing it too blatantly?"
Xu Liang came to Ouyang Lun with a confused look on his face.
"Of course you have to collect money blatantly! Could it be that you still collect it secretly? If His Majesty the Emperor discovers it, be careful to destroy your nine tribes!" Ouyang Lun said with a , if you accept it openly, I'm afraid the emperor will know about it faster. Could it be that the two endings are different? Seeing Xu Liang's confused face, wanting to ask but not knowing how to ask, Ouyang Lun smiled and said, "Prefect Xu, do you think I want to steal all the money?"
Is it not? Xu Liang still looked at Ouyang Lun doubtfully, "I don't dare. I'm just worried that so many people have paid money, but they won't be given contractor quotas at the time, so there will be problems."
"Haha, what I promised them was the name of the contractor, not the quota of contractors."
"Is there any difference?" Xu Liang asked curiously.
Ouyang Lun asked with a smile: "How high is the monument we designed?"
"About ten meters." Xu Liang said matter-of-factly.
"How many names can be engraved on it? How many contractors have been decided?" Ouyang Lun continued to ask.
"If we were to engrave the name alone, there would be at least a thousand names. There are only more than a dozen contractors who have been selected." Just as he was answering, Xu Liang suddenly realized something, "Mr. Ouyang, it turns out you are"
Ouyang Lun nodded, "Yes, since you can engrave thousands of names, wouldn't it be a waste if you only engrave a dozen?"
"More than a dozen real contractors' names are engraved in the most obvious positions. The other names are sorted according to the amount of donation. They only have the names of contractors. To be more precise, it is more appropriate to call them donation merchants."
"As for the money from donations, isn't it enough for us to use it to purchase materials and pay labor? We can't really let the contractor bear all the money. If this is the case, no one will work with you in the future."
"And the new city plan has a second and third phase, both of which require start-up funds!"
Hearing this, Xu Liang understood completely and saluted Ouyang Lun with great admiration, "Master Ouyang is wise!"
"I just collected money from hundreds of businessmen today, I will continue to collect money when I go back!!"
Ouyang Lun nodded with satisfaction, "Yes, I understood it quickly and have a bright future. Then I will leave all the money collection to you. Be sure to record the names and birthplaces of these businessmen who donate money clearly. Don't give them when engraving They made a mistake, they spend money after all, so we can’t ruin our reputation.”
"Yes." Xu Liang nodded heavily.
My heart was shouting that I had learned it.
"By the way, when you leave later, go to the warehouse and carry out a few boxes of silver. Give them to the officials who are doing the work this time. The ninth-grade officials will receive 100 taels, and the eighth-grade officials will receive 200 taels. Double the amount in sequence. Like you, the fourth-grade officials The prefect takes three thousand and two hundred taels."
Ah! Xu Liang just felt that he had misunderstood Ouyang Lun, and praised Ouyang Lun that he was not the corrupt official in the rumors, but a good official who dedicated himself to serving the country and the people. But when he heard these words, his whole body became violent!
Mr. Ouyang, didn’t we agree to be a good official? ? ! ?
"Master Ouyang, if we take this money, wouldn't we become corrupt officials?" Xu Liang asked quickly.
"What are you calling corrupt officials? This is called project bonuses!" Ouyang Lun immediately said righteously: "Corrupt officials are absolutely not allowed to exist in Beizhili, otherwise our democratic life will be in vain!"
"The first phase of the new city plan is going very smoothly this time. As the chief envoy, I give some rewards to my subordinates. This is normal!"
"You also remember to tell the people below that we will collect the money openly and spend it openly!"
"This envoy will not talk to you about the lofty ideals of serving the country and the people. In one sentence, I must let the people live a good life, and at the same time, I must also let myself live a good life."
"Understand?"
Xu Liang nodded heavily, even with tears in his eyes. He was extremely moved in his heart. Mr. Ouyang understands us!
"The officer understands!"
"Go down if you understand!"
"Yes."
This day is destined to be the most exciting day for officials in Beizhili.
The project bonus is received! Even a ninth-grade official has 100 taels! ! This is equivalent to two or three years' salary. Officials in the Ming Dynasty had very few benefits. If they were not corrupt, they could barely make ends meet. If the family had more people, their life would be worse than that of ordinary people.
100 taels is definitely a big income!
And the money comes from a clean source, so you can spend it with confidence.
This 100 taels is more delicious than the greedy 1000 taels.
All ninth-grade officials are like this, and officials of other grades are even more excited.
Xu Liang received 600 taels and paid the full price for a red flag carriage!Every day he drives a red-flag carriage around the city of Peking, for fear that others will not know that he has bought a new car.
Beijing.
Royal Garden.
Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood and invited ministers such as Li Shanchang, Lu Chang, Guo Zi, Wu Jingzhi and others to visit the garden together.
The atmosphere is still very relaxed.
From talking about national policy to military construction, the monarch and his ministers were harmonious, and there was constant laughter.
But as we chatted, we couldn't avoid talking about Beizhili and Ouyang Lun.
"Guo Zi, how did the last discussion on helping Beizhili and the rewards for businessmen go?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile.
However, as soon as this question was asked, the expressions of all the officials present changed.
Um! ?
Zhu Yuanzhang keenly sensed something was wrong and immediately asked: "Is something wrong again?"
Now Zhu Yuanzhang was really nervous about Ouyang Lun. Every time he managed to suppress his soaring anger through self-comfort and strategy, Ouyang Lun would do something that made his anger soar. Sometimes he was thinking, what if If he were dead, maybe he wouldn't be so anxious. That's not right. Considering what Ouyang Lun did, even if he died, he would probably be so angry that the coffin boards couldn't be covered, and then he would fake his body! "Tell me quickly!"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Guo Zi handed over his hand, and then said: "Back to Your Majesty, the help the imperial court provides to Beizhili is mainly to commend officials, such as bolts of cloth, grain, etc., while to merchants it is plaques and commendation documents. Wait, this is all done.”
"Since it's all done, why are you looking like this?" Zhu Yuanzhang was quite confused.
"This" Guo Zi quickly looked at Lu Chang and Li Shanchang.
Li Shanchang was stroking his beard, as if the matter had nothing to do with him. Lu Chang sighed and said: "Your Majesty, there is news from people below that officials in Beizhili do not care about these awards at all. Businessmen I’m not too interested in the plaques and commendation documents given by the court, and the response is mediocre.”
Um! ?
Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned again, "Why is this? As far as I know, the income of officials in Beizhili is generally not high. The cloth I rewarded should be enough for their family to make several sets of clothes, and the food should be enough to last for a long time. Logically speaking, they You should be very happy, these are all real money!"
"And those businessmen. They actually look down on things issued by the imperial court. They still have doubts about the imperial court and the Ming Dynasty!"
The more Zhu Yuanzhang talked, the angrier he became, and the atmosphere became more and more depressing.
"Your Majesty, please calm down." Lu Chang explained: "As far as I know, Beizhili officials have just received a sum of money recently. Even ninth-grade officials have 100 taels of silver. As the grade rises, the amount of money will continue to increase." Increased, a fourth-grade prefect received 600 taels, and also bought a luxury car, Hongqi!"
"With this money, they naturally despise the cloth and food rewarded by the court."
Forehead. Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang was a little embarrassed. He finally understood the meaning of Lu Chang's words, which was that he, Zhu Yuanzhang, was too stingy. Although the gifts he gave were all real gold and silver, a few pieces of cloth plus grain, which was more than ten taels of silver, No comparison, no harm Shabby! and many more!
Doesn’t Beizhili have no money?All the money was used to build the Great Wall!
If the money was paid by Ouyang Lun himself, it would be bribing colleagues and subordinates. Although it is rare for superiors to bribe subordinates, this is also a crime of corruption and bribery.
If this money belongs to the government, then it is sharing the spoils and sharing the spoils collectively!This is even more outrageous! (End of this chapter)
