A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 50 Testing
"That's such a pity."

Zhang Kang said in cooperation.

He found that once Song Xuan said something reasonable or unreasonable.

They are all pretending to be old people and using country slang.

It has some of the meaning of what Confucius said.

Is this how you are supposed to interpret this sage book?
But Zhang Kang had to admit that Song Xuan's summary of money was extremely thought-provoking.

Or perhaps Zhang Kang did not quite understand why the Song Dynasty had entered an era of rapid development of the commodity economy, just as Zhang Yong, a famous official of the Song Dynasty, did not understand why people still had to buy vegetables when they could grow them at home.

Or professional vegetable growers can sell non-fresh vegetables at a low price, which is more worry-free and cheaper than growing the vegetables yourself.

All goods and too many things can be measured or measured by money.

Not to mention that the commodity economy of the Song Dynasty penetrated into the political field, and the Song Dynasty encouraged business.

At least when merchants built houses in violation of regulations, even the emperor condoned it.

"If Magistrate Zhang keeps his men from doing anything, won't they bear a grudge against you?"

Song Xuan thought for a moment and said, "Besides, relying solely on their salaries, without any grey income, it would be difficult for them to support their families."

"Don't worry about that. I'll give them some of the ambassador's money as a reward."

Zhang Kang had a smile on his face: "I'm not just strict with my subordinates."

Song Xuan nodded.

The way to be an official is to make your superiors happy and to make your subordinates work hard.

But he then thought of the mystery that almost got rid of the famous general from the Northwest.

Because of the issue of whether Shuiluo City should be built or not, Zheng Jian brought up old accounts, that is, the matter of Teng Zijing and Zhang Kang using public funds.

As a result, without waiting for the arrival of the imperial envoy, Teng Zijing burned the account book, which resulted in Dengzi having diarrhea. Whether it was true or not, it was true. No matter how much Fan Zhongyan believed Teng Zijing, he could not wash it away.

Teng Zijing's actions also implicated Di Qing and Zhong Shiheng, and almost destroyed the circle of famous generals in the northwest, forcing them all to move away.

It was the time when Fan Zhongyan was in charge of the New Deal, and Zheng Jian was no outsider.

He was Fan Zhongyan's brother-in-law.

Song Xuan glanced at Zhang Kang in front of him. It seemed that he had developed the habit a long time ago.

"You don't have to look at me like that." Zhang Kang said with a smile:

"I will add my salary back to the minister's money."

"Zhang Tuiguan is so righteous."

Song Xuan complimented him, which was something he didn't expect.

The Song Dynasty established a public treasury since the reign of Emperor Taizu to pay for public expenses such as banquets, receptions, and gifts for officials.

This is actually equivalent to giving government officials an office fund to use at their discretion, similar to the modern reimbursement system.

In addition to being used for official gifts, the funds are also used to improve the economic living conditions of officials.

In addition to giving up military power with a toast, Emperor Taizu of Song's real intention was to use money to confuse them.

He understood that it is better to loosen up than to block, and he wanted officials at all levels to do their jobs with peace of mind, but there are always people who like to exploit loopholes in the system. This is human nature.

Whether it is a promotion, resignation or demotion, there are often hundreds of people welcoming and seeing off the person, and they are sent thousands of miles away. The cost can be imagined.

Compared with those people, people like Zhang Kang who used small amounts of money to reward some constables and yamen runners were just a drop in the bucket.

"It's just a stopgap measure."

Zhang Kang was not very pleased with himself. He could now curb the people below from taking things recklessly, but this phenomenon of taking things recklessly was rampant in the Song Dynasty.

Everyone wants to make more money, just as everyone likes high positions and generous salaries.

"Ah."

Song Xuan responded and didn't say anything more.

"Let's go." Zhang Kang had something on his mind. He had no intention of changing the system at the moment, so he decided to climb up first.
Song Xuan sent the man out the door, and after Zhang Kang left, they were completely his own people.

"Twelfth brother, those officers are not easy to deal with."

Miss Lei had of course seen their methods, and her shop had to be offered as tribute after all.

Otherwise, they have plenty of insidious ways to hinder your business.

Song Xuan nodded to show that he understood, and then instructed:

"Tao Hong, go exchange some Jiaozi tomorrow, and buy some paper from all the paper shops in Songcheng and mark it."

"Yes." Tao Hong responded.

"Jiao Ming, go check out the printing shop."

"Here."

Lottery tickets don't have barcodes to prevent counterfeiting, so Song Xuan could only learn from Jiaozi's experience to improve anti-counterfeiting measures and open a papermaking shop at the same time.

As for movable type printing, which had not yet appeared, he could do it himself.

Let's try the Arrangement 3 game first, with only a thousand numbers. When there are more people, Song Xuan plans to try the Arrangement 5 game, with a hundred thousand numbers, so that those who follow the trend will have to spend more time and effort.

There are one thousand numbers, each sold for five cents, and the basic amount is five strings of coins. Not to mention those who buy repeated numbers, the reward is set at one string and five cents, just to test the waters.

"Twelfth brother, I know there are Xue Tao paper, Xie Gong paper, and Chengxintang paper." Miss Lei thought for a moment and said:
"Not many of the Chengxintang paper made by the Southern Tang emperor remain today."

"There aren't many left?" Song Xuan said naturally:

"Find a way to buy some, and I'll study it."

"Here."

Captain Ding Zhe looked extremely unhappy. He had really hit a hard wall today.

As for the few constables behind him, they found the mutton skewers delicious.

Moreover, Zhang Tuiguan only punished the leader, which didn’t matter much to them.

With Zhang Kang as the magistrate, the yamen runners in Songcheng could not cause any trouble.

Except for Ding Zhe, they are all temporary workers. It would be great if they can have free food and drink and earn a little money.

But now Zhang Tuiguan is investigating very strictly. Although he will give them some rewards from time to time, they still have to go on missions with him.

As one of the captains of the police, Ding Zhe was not taken out by Zhang Kang last night. It was another captain of the police who went there. He arrested so many people and confiscated the stolen money, so he must have a share of the profits.

So when Ding Zhe heard what the people from the county government said, he decided to test the strength of the owner of the newly purchased house and act accordingly.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Kang was waiting for him here.

Now that everything has come to light, I'm afraid Zhang Kang had already anticipated that he would cause trouble.

Thinking of this, Captain Ding Zhe sighed:
"You bastard! Scholars are so cunning, and I've fallen into his hands again."

"Boss, try it. The skill of this kebab shop is really good."

"Hey, it smells really good!"

"It's okay, boss. Tomorrow I'll find some good fighters from the county government to beat you up. I guarantee it'll look serious, but the strength won't be affected."

"roll."

Ding Zhe kicked his tactless subordinate, then snatched the lamb skewers from his hand and put them directly into his mouth.

"Damn it, it's really delicious."

But when he thought about being beaten in public tomorrow, even if it didn't hurt, it would still be a loss of face.

By the time the news spreads throughout Songcheng, how will he make money?

"Boss, I saw that kid invite Magistrate Zhang and use a glass cup. His family must be very wealthy. He's from Lema Town and has never heard of any high-ranking official from the Song family!"

Captain Ding Zhe thought for a moment and said, "This year, the Song brothers won first place and third place. I wonder if this has anything to do with them?"

(End of this chapter)