Qiming 1158

Chapter 1312 Borrowing money has to be repaid
For senior bureaucrats, the drop in salaries is not a big deal.

Although the state capital of the Ming Dynasty attacked Jiangnan in an all-round way and almost occupied a dominant position, the bureaucratic dignitaries would not be short of money anyway.

Even if there is no business money, they still have land income, and they are still very rich.

Moreover, in the face of the blow of the Ming national team, quite a few dignitaries also decisively chose to join forces with them, incarnated as compradors, and protected their own interests. Even if the government's finances were exhausted, they would not be short of money. Take a little, it doesn't matter.

But only the middle and senior bureaucratic dignitaries have this qualification. They can operate many industries by relying on their own power and personal connections, and obtain the qualifications to be compradors.

A considerable part of them live on salaries, and when the salaries drop, their living standards plummet, and they complain.

What’s worse is that even if the salaries drop, prices in Hangzhou have also risen, rice and grain prices have risen by several percent, and salt prices have also skyrocketed.

So much so that the Hangzhou court had to hire a series of social idlers to do things in order to reduce financial expenditure and maintain a minimum social security team.

However, this is equivalent to greatly reducing the average quality of the staff, causing a lot of troubles.

In Lu You's position, his salary has dropped by almost half, which makes life in his family very tight. From time to time, he needs some relief from his hometown, which manages the land, otherwise he will not be able to eat enough.

This is true of middle and lower-level officials and officials, let alone the people.

Needless to say, the peasants are all poor ghosts, and now there is only one breath left in their lives, and it was Zhang Shi who worked hard to keep them.

The poor ghosts have already been squeezed dry, and they can't continue to squeeze, but the court can't survive, what should I do?
Start with the rich.

In the present city of Hangzhou, in order to maintain the nominal rule of the imperial court, the exploitation of the bourgeoisie and merchants can also be said to have reached its peak.

With the large-scale intervention of the state capital of the Ming Dynasty, the bureaucrats of the Hangzhou court not only failed to find a way to mediate and help the private businessmen to tide over the difficulties, but instead stabbed them in the back, set up various policy obstacles, and tortured them into bankruptcy. And then eat into the assets of private businessmen at low prices.

Their mouths are full of oil, and the price is that the private business in Jiangnan is almost in a desperate situation.

After the private businessmen are eaten and wiped clean by the bureaucrats, they will continue to increase their weight.

According to reports related to the Skynet Army, the price of salt in Hangzhou has reached the point where 90.00% of it is tax.

Taxes on alcohol have also started to increase again, with prices doubling and taxes doubling.

The peasants outside the city were tossed and hung with one breath.

The merchants and the townspeople in the city were exterminated while being exploited by the extremely heavy price of salt. The dire situation is definitely not an exaggerated rhetoric, but a fact.

So Jiangnan's economy has essentially collapsed.

Under this circumstance, those who can still do business are basically those with strong backgrounds, such as Su Changsheng.

Su Changsheng had Zhang Shi's back on his back, and the Xichun Building and Beiguo Building he ran were not attacked, they were protected by privileges, and the taxes were normal.

But as far as Su Changsheng knew, even if there was a relationship in the DPRK, as long as the relationship wasn't that hard, or the hard relationship had disappeared, they couldn't escape.

Three months ago, the owner of the Bandung Restaurant, which was established at the same time as the Xichun Tower, hanged himself at home, and the family cried and cried and did not snatch anyone back.

It is said that because his backer in the court fell due to the Second War of Ming and Song Dynasties, he became a fat sheep, was targeted by the court, and set a very heavy tax, which can be regarded as making money for the court.

When the Hangzhou government levied taxes on the Wanlong restaurant, it was almost a clear grab.

The income was taken away, the customer base was sluggish, and the owner had to subsidize money to run the business. The owner couldn’t stand it anymore.

In the end he lost all hope and committed suicide.

After the owner died, the Bandung Restaurant was seized because of tax arrears, and all the assets were returned to the imperial court. Then, because of the tax issue, a large family was sold into slavery, the family house was also seized, and the family land was confiscated.

All the valuable things in a family were confiscated and sold, and even people were sold as slaves to make money.

And it wasn't just the family that was treated like this.

In fact, many well-known business families before were also killed by the imperial court because of this incident.

Anyway, their backers have fallen in the chaos, what else is there to say?
The court tax that had been embezzled by the backer had to be returned, as well as fines and late payment fees... It was mine to hand over to me, it was not mine, it was mine, I robbed it!
The Hangzhou court had to maintain the decency of the court, maintain a certain number of troops, and support a relatively large and bloated administrative team. The cost in this regard was quite serious.

Not to mention that after the separation of Sichuan and Shu from the rule, the financial revenue of the Hangzhou court was further reduced, even the salaries of officials were compressed, and the exploitation of people from all walks of life and all walks of life was not increased. How can these days go on?
Su Changsheng wanted to complain at that time.

Why did you go early?
If we had attacked the rentier class earlier, we wouldn't have gotten to where we are today.

Of course, he also knows that this is impossible. If they don't get to the point where they are today, they will never attack themselves.

Against such a background, it is really not easy for a middle-level official like Lu You to have a full meal.

"It's not just that I'm having a hard time now, but many of my colleagues are also having a hard time. Many of my colleagues in the same department don't have money to buy meat now, and they often scold the court for not doing anything in office.

I also heard that a colleague's wife was ill but had no money to see a doctor. The wife seemed to be dying, so the colleagues each put together a sum of money to see a doctor, and then they were rescued. Look, these days What's it like?

So I'm not crying poor, it's just that I really can't afford this mutton. It's not bad to be full at home. How dare I ask for these... By the way, Comrade Changsheng, I can pack some and bring them back to my family to eat. ? "

"…………"

Su Changsheng was speechless.

You have to go a long way.

But this is also something that can't be helped. In the end, it is his own comrade, and he is also risking his life by busying himself.

Although his salary is not the highest, but because he has nothing to spend, and he is not married, the salary accumulated over the years is indeed a large number.

"I'm not married yet, and the salaries are all saved and useless. You're having a hard time, so just use some of it. It doesn't matter if you're hungry, you can't let your wife and children go hungry."

Su Changsheng took out a money bag from his arms and handed it to Lu You.

Lu You's eyes lit up, and just as he was about to reach out to take it, Su Changsheng clenched the purse tightly.

"I lent you, IOUs, and stipends. Although you haven't received Daming's salary now, you will remember them. When this battle is over, you will receive all the salary you have accumulated before, and you will have money by then. , you must pay back what you owe me, and for the sake of your comrade, you won't want any interest, so thank me soon?"

Lu You was stunned on the spot.

Of course, in the end, Lu You still borrowed money, wrote an IOU, and made a deposit. At the same time, he also took away important information for Zhang Shi to know.

"So, in two months at most, Daming will be able to complete the Yellow River Project?"

"Well, it can be completed in two months at most. After that, although there is no clear news, Comrade Changsheng estimates that after the autumn harvest, the army will go south."

Lu You whispered to Zhang Shi: "As far as the situation is concerned, I'm not worried about what they can do, but I'm worried that before the army goes south, many people can't help but resign and run away. They have one Even if one of them is full of people's fat and people's cream, shall we arrest or not arrest at that time?"

"Let's see the situation. If the situation is serious, once I get the military power, I can immediately initiate action. I don't need to worry too much, I can directly control Hangzhou."

Zhang Shi thought for a while, then whispered: "There are [-] troops guarding the edge of Hangzhou. When the time comes, we will take all the military power in our hands, and it will not be a problem to guard until the Ming army goes south. As for King Qin or something. ...Do you think it's possible? In the current situation?"

"I don't think it's possible."

"I don't think it's possible either."

"Then what are you worried about?"

"There's really nothing to worry about."

"So do that?"

"I support you."

The two nodded to each other and reached a consensus on the issue.

(End of this chapter)