Borrow the day to change the day

In mid-July of the fourth year of Chongzhen, the first cement official road in Daming was completed.

The good news reached the capital, and at the instigation of Zhong Jinwei, Emperor Chongzhen decided to go to the starting point of the cement official road outside the capital to cut the ribbon for the inauguration ceremony.

In the early morning of this day, the people of the capital got up early and waited at the city gate to open to watch the completion ceremony.

"Brother, why are you here?" The height of the strong man made him spot the merchants not far away.

But because there were too many people and the noise, the merchant didn't hear the strong man's question.

So, the strong man turned his head and said to the short man next to him, "Follow me and find Big Brother."

After finishing speaking, he took advantage of his body and squeezed to the merchant's side.

"Hey, you two are here too!" The merchant asked in surprise when he saw the strong man and the short man.

"Yes, find a good place to look up at the true face of the next emperor." The strong man said with a smile.

When the businessman heard this, he looked at him with contempt and said, "I'm afraid I want to see how the charges will be charged. Back then, you bought a lot of road construction funds."

The short man listened to it, and said with a smile: "There are all of them, all of them. The emperor wants to see, and the cement road also needs to be visited. Brother, you are the same, right?"

Unexpectedly, the merchant shook his head and said: "It's not mainly because of this. This year's fur goods are really in demand, and the Mongolians have distributed them. My boss asked me to transport a few truckloads of goods to Zhangjiakou to earn money from the Mongolians."

The strong man heard this and corrected him: "Brother, from now on we should talk about earning money, and now it is popular in the capital!"

The merchant smiled and said, "In the past, you were afraid that there was something wrong with the Daming Nine Sibao banknote. Why did you change your mind so quickly now?"

The strong man stretched out his hand and scratched the back of his head, and said a little embarrassedly: "That was at the beginning, was it because of the precedent of Tongxingbao notes. But now Jiusibao notes have become popular, and the Royal Bank of the Imperial Court can exchange them at any time To tell you the truth, my brother and I only need Jiusibao banknotes in our store now, and we don’t want any cash or copper coins, it’s too troublesome!"

The benefits of this banknote are good to use.Since there is no problem of devaluation, who will use the troublesome metal currency that is dying.

The merchant smiled understandingly and said, "The Mongols have already used Jiusibao banknotes. I just talked about it just now, and I said to make money."

Those who do big business like merchants, especially those who do trade, find banknotes more convenient.Therefore, he has long used banknotes to trade, but it is just a matter of habit over the years, and he will also use the title of silver.

"Brother, your employer is a nobleman. Then you go to Zhangjiakou this time, will the cement road charge you?" The short man asked the merchant when he saw an opportunity.

The merchant shook his head, leaned closer to the short man, and said in a low voice: "What do you think the emperor personally came to hold the inauguration ceremony for?"

"For what?" the short man asked curiously.

The strong man also lowered his head and moved his head closer to hear clearly.

"It's just to warn the officials of Ming Dynasty not to use power for personal gain. Don't forget that the former inn was used by those officials as if they were their own hotels."

When the merchant said this, he added: "The imperial court has issued a strict order, and there will be a Metropolitan Procuratorate to watch this content. Anyone who wants to take advantage of this kind of thing again can go to the reporting office to report. In addition, there will be a road guard team that will inspect the road conditions and check the large vehicles at the same time to see if there is any payment."

"Then your boss doesn't dare?" the brawny man said.

The merchant looked up at the strong man's face, and said angrily, "You think my boss is so ignorant that he is being targeted for a little passing money?"

When he said this, he turned his head to look around, and found that no one was paying attention, so he lowered his voice again: "I will reveal another secret to you..."

At this point, the city gate opened, and the waiting crowd rushed out of the city gate.

The merchants didn't bother to talk, and followed the flow of people to occupy a good position.

At the starting point of the cement road, there are already soldiers from Wucheng Bingma Division who have been standing guard since yesterday.

I saw a house on the side of the cement intersection, presumably it was used by the toll collectors to rest temporarily.

The concrete road is very wide, divided into left and right lanes, and there is a protrusion in the middle that separates the two sides to distinguish the two different directions.

The left and right lanes can accommodate two large vehicles side by side, and there is also a pedestrian way, which is called the sidewalk.

On the spacious road where the vehicle was driving, there was a horse, and beside it was a large box with a lock on it.

It is said that this is used by passing vehicles to invest money, and the toll fee for each vehicle is fixed. If you want to walk this cement road, you have to prepare money yourself, and put the money in under the supervision of the road yamen commissioner, so that To get a pass.

Of course, the money in the box is locked, the key is not in the hands of the commissioner, and it is kept by another person.

When the shift changes every day, they will check the money in the box and the number of passes in the hands of the commissioner. They must match the number before they can be laid off. Otherwise, they will buy tea or make up for the difference by themselves.

The merchant explained it to the two righteous brothers in detail, and the strong man exclaimed: "This method is good, and it avoids favoritism and fraud."

The short man shook his head and said: "If you really want to be greedy, how can you not do anything about it. Then the person who checks the number and the commissioner cooperates, so they can be greedy for the money."

The money received is related to the interests of the person who bought the road construction fund. When the strong man heard this, he was dissatisfied and said: "This is not bad!"

On the other hand, the merchant shook his head and said: "The less people know about this kind of thing, the better. Don't say that many people are involved in corruption, the risk will be very high. It means that the commissioner does not allow passing vehicles to invest money, or invest less money, then the It will make people catch the handle. When the censor comes, he will reveal his secrets. Even if you bribe the censor, do you think people in the past will be unhappy with them and report directly to the reporting office, and they will be finished differently. Therefore, The risk of greed here is too high."

Both the short man and the burly man nodded, as if this mechanism of preventing sexual assault was not bad.Only when Daming is corrupted like before, will the money be able to move.

After a while, the brawny man remembered something and asked the merchant, "Brother, didn't you just want to tell us a secret?"

When the short man heard this, he quickly looked at Shang Jia, not knowing what kind of secret Shang Jia said so mysteriously.

The merchant had to be reminded by the strong man before he remembered it.

He approached the two righteous brothers, and first said: "Although this matter is no longer a secret in the court, it has not been spread among the people. But after a while, there should be an announcement. But no matter what, you first Don't spread the word."

After being told by the merchant, the strong man was even more curious, he immediately assured him, and then asked: "Brother, what is the secret?"