I, the queen and the father, start with a deer as a horse

The foreman knelt on the ground, shivering, but still dared not speak.

Seeing this, the uncle Guo on the side uttered angrily.

"A dog-like thing! Do you know who is standing in front of you! If you don't tell the truth again, I will send someone to skin you!"

Hearing this, the foreman trembled all over, and he didn't dare to hide it any more. He knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and cried:
"My lord! The little one did this not to fill his own pockets! The miners' wages, the young one didn't see a penny, and they were all sent to the Yamen of Chang'an Mansion!"

"And I don't want to be so harsh on these miners. If I don't do this, I won't be able to meet the targets set by the court!"

As soon as this word comes out.

Uncle Guo's face changed slightly.

Although he is not interested in the affairs of the court, he also knows that the governor of Chang'an is Fang Xiang's man!
Without Prime Minister Fang's order, how could he, a small governor, dare to do such a thing.

"Could it be that the culprit is actually Fang Xiang?"

With this in mind, Uncle Guo stopped talking.

the other side.

Fang Xiu frowned even more, looked at the foreman, and said coldly: "Who gave you the idea to deduct the miners' wages in this way?"

The foreman hesitated and said: "The young one also forgot who the young one was. He only knew that someone from the Yamen of Chang'an Mansion came to tell the young one that the imperial court was short of money and could not pay the miners.

The young one had no choice but to go to the government office to find out what was going on, and someone told the young one that with this method, all the deducted wages were sent to the government office. Of course, in many cases, the wages were not sent to the mine at all. Can't even see it. "

When Fang Xiu heard this, a thoughtful look appeared on his face.

After a while, he seemed to realize something, waved his hands and said: "Come here! Take this person down and keep him under strict supervision! Don't let him out without the order of the truth!"

"Yes!"

As soon as the words fell, someone was ordered to go forward and arrest the mine head.

Seeing this, the head of the mine just kept yelling for injustice.

Fang Xiu ignored it, looked at the miner, and asked, "How much money does the mine owe you?"

The miner showed excitement on his face, and said in a trembling voice: "If you go back to Master Qingtian, the total is five taels of silver."

Fang Xiu nodded, took out a few banknotes from his pocket, handed them to him, and said calmly: "Here is five taels of silver, you take it."

Seeing the silver, the miner only felt that he saw hope, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed.

"Thank you, Master Qingtian, for making decisions for the young one, and the elder Qingtian is my benefactor! I will definitely repay the favor of the young one in the future!"

Fang Xiu waved his hand and said, "If you really want to repay me, then work hard, whether farming or mining, do your best."

"It must be small!"

The miner kowtowed again.

Fang Xiu nodded, turned around and was about to leave.

at this time.

More than a hundred miners gathered around, knelt down on the ground, and said in unison in a mournful voice: "Master Qingtian, please make the decision for the little one!"

Fang Xiu looked at them, feeling inexplicably depressed, looked at Uncle Guo at the side, and said expressionlessly: "Please ask Uncle Guo to find out how much silver is owed to these people in the mine, and make up for them."

Uncle Guo hurriedly said, "Yes!"

"Okay, the money owed to you will be repaid as much as possible by the imperial court. After that, it's up to you whether you continue to work in the mine or go back to farming."

After Fang Xiu finished speaking, he was about to leave.

The miners were still kneeling on the ground, crying loudly: "Master Qingtian wants to make decisions for the little ones!"

Seeing this, Fang Xiu sighed in his heart, and said again: "Since I promised you, I will definitely do it, let's all go away!"

The voice fell.

All the guards around put their hands on the scabbard.

If these miners still gather here, they will drive them away.

Fortunately, these miners were quite sensible, seeing what Fang Xiu said, they all obediently gave way.

Fang Xiu returned to Xiangguo Mansion from the mining area.

The first thing to do was to find someone to summon the Governor of Chang'an.

"The next official pays homage to Prime Minister Fang!"

Zhao Zhengrong, governor of Chang'an Prefecture, saluted respectfully.

Fang Xiu looked at him without any expression on his face, and told what happened in the mining area today.

"The people in the mine told the truth that all the deducted wages were sent to the Chang'an government office. Should you give an explanation to the truth, why the money that was originally used for the miners was diverted to you, and the money was used again? where?"

When Zhao Zhengrong heard this, he was taken aback for a moment, and then he seemed hesitant to speak.

"This"

Fang Xiu looked at him and said, "Just say what you have. You still know the truth. Even if you have the heart to be greedy for this money, you don't have the courage to tell the truth. What is so much money? Who took it away? Where is it used?"

From beginning to end, his tone was extremely flat, as if this was an insignificant matter.

However, the Governor of Chang'an knows better than anyone else.

Since Fang Xiang chose to inquire about this matter in person, it shows that he still takes this matter to heart!

Fang Xiang is both the prime minister and the regent of the state of Zhou. It is not an exaggeration to say that he has a lot of opportunities every day!

How can it be a trivial matter that Fang Xiang can personally intervene?

Thinking of this.

Zhao Zhengrong no longer dared to hide it, and hurriedly said: "If you go back to Prime Minister Fang, all the money will be sent to the yamen of the household department, and the yamen of Chang'an government will only serve as a transfer. do not know."

"Understood, you go down."

Zhao Zhengrong also made some contributions in the case of the Wu Guo grain merchant.

What he said was fairly believable, and he didn't have the guts to deceive Fang Xiu.

"The officer will leave!"

Zhao Zhengrong heaved a sigh of relief, saluted again, turned and left.

Sitting on the stone bench, Fang Xiu was silent for a moment, looked at the guard at the side, and ordered, "Call Qin Xingyan here."

"Yes!"

Since the money was sent to the household department, it must have an inextricable relationship with Qin Xingyan.

Although Qin Xingyan is Fang Xiu's most staunch supporter.

However, this matter involved so much that even Fang Xiu couldn't turn a blind eye to it.

In the mines closest to Chang'an, wage deduction is so serious.

What the rest of the mines and mines look like, you can guess without thinking.

Those miners must be living in dire straits and tortured!
And this is what Fang Xiu never wants to see!

Time passed minute by minute.

Only half an hour.

Qin Xingyan, who was dressed in a crimson official robe, came to Fang Xiu, with a flattering smile on his old face as always: "Mr. Fang, what is your order?"

Fang Xiu glanced at him and said, "There is a copper mine in the south of Chang'an, do you know?"

With just a few words, Qin Xingyan instantly understood what Fang Xiu meant.

The original smile froze on his face, and he looked a little uneasy.

Seeing this, Fang Xiu sighed in his heart.

With an angry look on his face, he said sharply, "Have you visited the mining area? Do you know what kind of life those miners live? It can be described in four words, life is worse than death! You can't get enough money for this money!" You also have to be greedy for ink, don’t you feel hot when you hold it in your hand?!”

When Qin Xingyan heard this, a grievance appeared on his old face, and he defended himself in a low voice.

"The money that was supposed to be distributed to the miners was indeed sent to the yamen of the household department, but it was not because they were corrupted by lower officials."

Fang Xiu said angrily, "It's not that you are greedy for ink, what is it used for?"

Qin Xing said:
"It's used everywhere! Building workshops, flood relief, producing weapons, and building new cities. All of these need to use silver. Before this year, the imperial court was in a serious deficit and the treasury was empty. You know that, Prime Minister Fang.

Later, Fang Xiangyou founded Zhenbaozhai, established the Taxation Court and the Royal Bank, increased the proportion of commercial taxes, greatly improved the state treasury's emptiness, and the court also had surplus money.

However, in the past six months, the imperial court has been fighting with Zhou Guo and Yan Guo, which requires a lot of soldiers, weapons and food.

Let’s not talk about how much money is needed for the raw materials of weapons and food, but let’s talk about the cost of personnel. The standard you set for the new army is two taels of silver a month, and the standard for miners is one tael a month. There are tens of thousands of craftsmen!
With so many people, such a high standard, without a war, the court’s support can be regarded as reluctant, not to mention that when there is a war, the lower officials really have no choice, so they want to reduce expenses from various places and use the money to spend money. where it matters.

For example, the wages of miners. In the past, these young and strong mining for the court were listed in the corvee. The court did not even need to prepare food for them and reduce their expenses. Although it would cause dissatisfaction, it would not cause public resentment. After all, the number of miners is not too much, but the flood in Huizhou is different. If it is not handled properly, it will cause civil uprisings!

There is also the construction of the new city. Zhao Zizheng from the Ministry of Industry has urged me countless times in the past few days to ask our household department to allocate funds. What would you do?It is nothing more than tearing down the east wall to make up for the west wall.

You know what kind of person Xiaguan is, and it would not be an exaggeration to say that he is a complete thief who seeks the people's fat and people's anointing.

But in the past two years, Xiaguan has indeed not been greedy for a penny of money!To maintain the expenses of the family, all they rely on is the dividends from Zhenbaozhai!The dividend from Zhenbaozhai is indeed a huge income for other colleagues, but it is not worth mentioning for Xiaguan, a once greedy thief. "

Speaking of this, his eyes were already filled with tears, and he said in a trembling voice: "In these years, although Xiaguan has done all kinds of bad things, he has always wanted to share Fang's worries. For your sake, look into this matter.”

He said a lot in one breath, and his emotions gradually became agitated, obviously suppressed for a long time.

Fang Xiu looked at him, and suddenly found that he looked older than the previous days.

Although he is only in his 50s, he looks like an old man in his 70s or [-]s.

"The truth knows that you have had a heavy burden and a lot of pressure in the past two years, but the truth still wants to ask you, why didn't you report these things to the truth?"

Fang Xiu asked in a flat tone.

Qin Xingyan hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth: "This official is afraid."

Fang Xiu frowned slightly, and asked, "What are you afraid of?"

Qin Xingyan said: "I'm afraid Fang Xiang will feel that the subordinate officials are not good at doing things. Like this kind of thing, the subordinate officials will try their best to maintain it. If they can't maintain it, they want to tear down the east wall to make up for the west wall, until one day something happens."

"The truth remembers that you were not like this before."

Fang Xiu frowned.

After hearing this, Qin Xingyan seemed hesitant to speak again.

Seeing this, Fang Xiu waved his hands and said, "If you have anything to say, it's okay to say it."

Qin Xingyan said: "In the past, Prime Minister Fang was the backbone of the lower officials and others. There are many people in the court who are the enemies of Prime Minister Fang and the lower officials. , Fang Xiang will also think about making up for the subordinates.

But now Fang Xiang is the backbone of the entire imperial court, and even the entire Dagan, and what he thinks about in his heart is the entire Dagan, if the subordinate officials make mistakes again, it will be different from before."

The implication is that.

In the past, Fang Xiu was more like their big brother.

Now, Fang Xiu is more like a new monarch.

Even after following Fang Xiu for many years, the mentality of facing the big brother is completely different from that of the monarch.

Fang Xiu could fully understand his thoughts, he was silent for a moment, and said, "Your changes in the past two years, the truth is in your eyes, and the truth believes that you are not greedy for money."

When Qin Xingyan heard this, he was stunned for a moment, then tears welled up in his eyes, and he was moved: "There is no one who knows me better than Fang Xiang!"

"I don't want to hide anything from Fang Xiang. In the past few years, I was desperately greedy for money, mainly because I wanted to leave more property for those two sons.

Now Xiaguan finds out that Xiaguan's two sons are all pretending to be ordinary people in their hearts. Even if they leave the money to them, they will not think of Xiaguan's goodness, but will think that Xiaguan is a moth who seeks the people's fat and anointment.

Because of this, Xiaguan is no longer greedy for money like before. A few days ago, Huizhou was hit by floods, and Xiaguan even took out a sum of money from his own house as a donation. "

Hearing this, Fang Xiu thought of his two sons, whose character was indeed not bad, and sighed, "You have two good sons."

Hearing this, Qin Xingyan sighed, and said, "Yongxin is quite obedient, but Shouyang."

Fang Xiu waved his hand and said, "Everyone has his own ambition, so there is no need to force it. Besides, studying idle books may not be a bad thing. Alright, let's talk about these gossips later. The most important thing now is how to deal with this matter!"

Speaking of this, he paused, and said in a deep voice: "The imperial court is short of money, but no matter how short of money it is, it shouldn't be torturing the people. If you deduct wages, it is tantamount to apportioning hard labor to those miners. question!"

Qin Xingyan nodded heavily and said, "The lower officials think so too."

Fang Xiu gave him a squinting look, and said in a bad mood: "The truth is about how to solve the problem, not echo."

Qin Xingyan smiled awkwardly, and replied: "The lower official thinks that the best solution is to reduce the wages of the miners. Originally, one tael of silver was too much, and the lower official thought that it could be reduced by [-]%, and changed to [-]%." A hundred coins a month."

After a pause, he continued: "In addition to the miners' wages being reduced, the craftsmen's wages are also being reduced."

Fang Xiu frowned slightly when he heard this, and said, "In fact, I think there is another way besides lowering wages."

Besides lowering wages, is there any other way?

Qin Xingyan was startled, and subconsciously asked: "What method?"

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new.