Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 392: Public Weapons for Private Use
In those days, the price of a large chicken in northern Zhili was roughly five to seven cents per head. Converted into copper coins at the current silver-copper exchange rate, this translates to around forty to fifty, seventy to eighty wen per chicken. After cooking, including labor and seasoning costs, the price of a whole chicken, no matter how low, would still be somewhere between fifty to sixty wen and eighty to ninety wen.

Compared to the price of a whole chicken, ten copper coins wasn't much, but it still covered the price of meat. A few pounds of meat was still within reach, and the tavern was built on this kind of low-price business. Shopkeeper Xue happily collected the ten copper coins, briefly inspected them, and placed them in the cash box.

"Would you like some wine?" Shopkeeper Xue asked casually.

"No." Li Youyu shook his head and said, "Just give me an empty bowl."

"Okay." Shopkeeper Xue nodded, picked up a wine bowl and handed it to Li Youyu. He then instructed his son, "Go to the kitchen and cut up a chicken worth ten cents. Get the best part of the chicken."

This is a rhetoric. Whenever someone orders chicken from Shopkeeper Xue, he'll instruct his waiter to cut the best part of the chicken. In reality, the chicken is cut as it's being served, and the customer is served whatever part is available. However, this greeting makes the customer feel valued, providing emotional value.

"I'll be right there." The young man replied, turned around and went back to the kitchen.

Li Youyu nodded with satisfaction and asked again, "Are there any more wagging tail tips?"

The so-called "wagging tail tip" is actually the chicken butt. The muscles here are strong and rich in oil and water, and many people like to eat it.

"There should be more," Shopkeeper Xue thought for a moment. The tavern had cooked three chickens today, but because of the damn rain that morning, not many people came for lunch, so they'd only sold half a chicken so far.

"Then cut me another piece of wagging tail tip." Li Youyu took out another copper coin and handed it to Shopkeeper Xue.

The wagging tail tip is a rare commodity, different from ordinary chicken. After all, a chicken can't have two buttocks. It is usually not sold separately, but only customers who order chicken can get it as an extra item, and it costs an additional copper coin.

"Okay." Shopkeeper Xue took the money and shouted to the kitchen. "Cut the tail of the wagging tail for Master Twelve as well."

"Got it." A reply came from afar.

Soon, a plate of skin-on, bone-in chicken and a chicken butt with the fat gland removed was brought over. "Twelfth Master, please enjoy."

"Here," Li Youyu patted the tip of the wagging tail with clean chopsticks, turned his head to look at Chen Weiye and said, "This is for you. So that no one will say that I didn't speak up for you because I was reluctant to spend such a small amount of money."

"I won't accept charity." Chen Weiye turned his face away as if he was upset.

"Don't be polite with me." Li Youyu picked up the tip of the wagging tail and threw it directly into Chen Weiye's empty wine bowl. Then, Li Youyu began to talk about his great principles again: "Brother, I know you have a lot of stubbornness in you, but stubbornness is useless. You can't beat the strong with your arms. As I said before, the money is with them. How can we fight them?"

"Then I'll go to the government and sue him!" Chen Weiye said angrily, "My arm can't twist his thigh, but the government's arm should be able to twist it."

"Which government office are you going to complain to? Instead of constantly blaming this government office and that government office, why not think about how to control your stubborn temper?" Li Youyu picked up a piece of chicken, removed the bone, stuffed the meat and skin into his mouth, and began to chew vigorously. Because there was still some residue left on the bone, Li Youyu didn't throw it away.

Cheng Yanshou looked at it with envy, so he also extended his chopsticks.

"What are you doing?" Li Youyu blocked Cheng Yanshou's chopsticks with his own chopsticks.

"Of course it's eating meat." Cheng Yanshou said with a smile.

"No, you were just mean to me." Li Youyu used his front teeth to scrape off the remnants on the chicken bones.

"You hold a grudge so tightly." Cheng Yanshou did not pull the chopsticks away.

"See," Li Youyu pointed at Cheng Yanshou and said to Chen Weiye, "This is a living example. If I really hold a grudge against him and don't give him food, what can he do? He can't go to the government to sue me. The principle is the same." After saying that, Li Youyu pulled away his chopsticks and leaned over to pick up the salt-fried beans in Cheng Yanshou's plate.

"You are acting like a teacher and preaching to people." Cheng Yanshou also took a piece of meat.

"Just tell me if it's right or not." Li Youyu shook his head proudly.

"That's not right!" Chen Weiye said, "My two brothers were just arguing. Whether or not to eat meat was a matter of mutual consent. But I wasn't lazy, so those two cents shouldn't have been deducted."

Cheng Yanshou took another sip of wine and said quietly, "You're right, but these people are all more or less connected to the government. Even if the government is willing to bring you to court for these two copper coins, can you win this case?"

Li Youyu nodded silently.

"The only person left in Zhongwei now is a Shen. What else can they do to each other?" Chen Weiye said.

Cheng Yanshou shrugged and said nonchalantly, "All men are equal. Commander Shen is gone, and here comes Governor Sun. What difference can there be?"

"Brother Liuzi," Chen Weiye narrowed his eyes and asked softly, "Are you saying that someone in the Governor's Office is colluding with those thugs?"

Cheng Yanshou put on a matter-of-fact expression, not trying to control his voice. "I don't know if there's any connection, but there's definitely one. Otherwise, why did they only arrest a few people when the entire Commandery collapsed? Forget about the others, just look at those inns by the dock that specialize in swindling wealthy people from other places. They're all obvious investment properties, so why haven't they been caught at all? They must have turned to some high-ranking official in the Governor's Office."

"Brother Liuzi, don't talk nonsense." Chen Weiye asked, "Who told you these things? Is there any basis for it?"

"Why would I need evidence for something so obvious? I'm not filing a complaint with the emperor." Cheng Yanshou looked at Shopkeeper Xue. "Everyone thinks so. Old Xue, don't you agree?"

Shopkeeper Xue did not respond, but just smiled silently.

"Alas," Chen Weiye sighed. He picked up the wine jug and was about to pour it out when he noticed the tip of the wagging tail still lying in the bowl, so he picked it up and ate it.

Seeing that Chen Weiye still ate the Wagtail Tip, Li Youyu immediately laughed smugly: "Hehe. Brother, I knew you would like this."

"I'm afraid of dirtying the wine bowl and ruining the taste of the wine." Chen Weiye picked up the wine pot and filled the wine bowl.

"Pour me a bowl too." Li Youyu pushed the empty wine bowl in front of Chen Weiye. "We've been talking for so long, and I haven't even had a sip yet." "You can't pour it yourself." Chen Weiye put the cork in the pot and placed it in front of Li Youyu with a "dong".

"Hey!" Li Youyu scolded, "Why are you so unhappy, kid?"

"I can't have a good time." Chen Weiye felt like he was wasting his time. He had been in Zhongwei for so long, but he hadn't gotten any useful intelligence. Every day, besides working at the government office, he'd spend his days drinking and chatting with a bunch of odd jobs here or in other taverns. Any questions he asked were met with unfounded assumptions.

Li Youyu misunderstood, thinking Chen Weiye was still upset about the two cents. He picked up the wine pot, poured himself a bowl of wine, and said solemnly, "I'm not saying anything bad about you, brother. I was also a farmhand back then, but I was kicked out by my boss just because I asked a question. If you want to find a stable job, you really need to change your temper. Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, and don't say things you shouldn't say. As long as you get paid, there's nothing to argue about. Why bother with a fight?"

Chen Weiye was stunned. He had only mentioned the idea of ​​finding a stable job as a long-term laborer once, and that was when he was just casually trying to please Li Youyu. Unexpectedly, the rough-hewn man, with a lot of white hair between his temples, actually remembered it.

Inexplicably moved, Chen Weiye clinked his bowl with Li Youyu's and asked with a smile, "Brother Li, what did you ask that caused such a serious problem? Could it be that you were asking about the color of your employer's concubine's bellyband?"

Li Youyu didn't laugh along, but leaned close to Chen Weiye's ear and whispered, "I asked why those smuggled goods were being loaded onto the government ship."

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In the evening, it started raining again, but compared to the heavy downpour in the morning, this time the wind and rain were obviously much smaller.

In the local areas, the times for arriving and leaving the yamen were not as strictly enforced as in the capital. As long as there weren't any important cases to be adjudicated, arriving a minute late or leaving a minute early wasn't a big deal; no one cared anyway. As long as the tasks assigned by higher-ups were completed well and no major incidents occurred in the jurisdiction, sleeping in until noon wouldn't be considered dereliction of duty.

However, for Sun Chengzong, "being late or leaving early" has never happened. Long-term overtime is his daily routine.

Knock, knock, knock! Someone knocked on the door of the governor's signing room. The force was not strong, but the knocks were fast.

"Come in."

"Zhongcheng," the clerk on duty was about to open the door, but before he could stand up, Lu Shanji, the grain officer, pushed open the door and walked in. "I don't understand. I really can't figure it out."

"Please sit down first." Sun Chengzong paused, pointing to the chair where Shen Zhengping had sat that morning. Then, Sun Chengzong put down his pen, raised his head, and looked at the clerk on duty. "It's getting late, you should go back."

"Yes." The clerk had already finished the last errand Sun Chengzong had assigned him. He was still sitting there because Sun Chengzong hadn't left. "I'll take my leave," the clerk said, standing up and bowing first to Sun Chengzong and then to Lu Shanji. After leaving, he tactfully closed the door behind him.

Lu Shanji walked quickly to the chair, turned around and sat down, and asked impatiently, "Zhongcheng, why do you tolerate them?"

"Why can't we tolerate it?" Sun Chengzong certainly knew who Lu Shanji was referring to as "they".

"Empty treasury, encroachment on military farms, and false reporting of personnel quotas are enough to convict and dismiss them from office, but you asked them to go back and investigate themselves. Do you really think they can turn over a new leaf and come to their senses?" Lu Shanji spoke a lot of words at once, becoming more and more excited.

"I don't think so," Sun Chengzong propped up his head and didn't look at Lu Shanji. "It doesn't matter."

Lu Shanji was as if he had been poured with a bucket of cold water. He was stunned and couldn't say a word for a long time. But then, a wave of heat came out of his head. "Why!"

"What do you think I was sent to Tianjin for?" Sun Chengzong's tone was still very slow.

"Of course, it's to investigate major cases and rectify the administration of officials." Lu Shanji immediately responded.

"No." Sun Chengzong shook his head. "This case is not important at all."

"Zhongcheng, I don't understand even more." Lu Shanji was stunned. He stared at Sun Chengzong blankly, his eyes full of obvious confusion.

"Then I'll tell you now, but you have to keep your mouth shut. Don't tell anyone else after you go out, otherwise it will cause trouble." Sun Chengzong's eyebrows trembled slightly under the warm yellow candlelight.

Lu Shanji nodded blankly.

Sun Chengzong said, "The Three Guards case was just a pretext. To put it more clearly, the Three Guards case arose because they needed to send me here as governor, not the other way around."

Lu Shanji leaned forward and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Sun Chengzong raising his hand.

"Don't be impatient. Listen to me first." Sun Chengzong continued, "Liaodong is at war, and it needs money and food. However, after deducting necessary expenses from the taxes and miscellaneous silver shipped to the capital each year, there is simply no way to fill such a huge hole. In the past few years, we relied on increasing taxes, and this year we switched to the palace treasury, but these are stopgap measures that cannot be sustained in the long run. Too many taxes will lead to civil unrest, and the palace treasury will be exhausted sooner or later if it continues to go out without gaining. As far as I know, the palace has spent nearly five million taels of silver since the emperor ascended the throne. This is not a solution. We must increase revenue to increase national tax revenue and reduce expenditure to reduce national expenditure. Tianjin is that source."

"What source of income can Tianjin open up? Increase the number of currency exchanges?" Lu Shanji couldn't help but ask.

"It is to increase customs." Sun Chengzong said.

Lu Shanji was silent for a while, then asked, "The one from Zhangzhou Prefecture?"

"Yes. Just like during the Longqing period, we should build a port and open a customs office in Tianjin." Sun Chengzong nodded.

"That's why the court sent Doctor Mi and Deputy Director Jin to Tianjin." Lu Shanji nodded thoughtfully.

"What else do you think they are here for?" Sun Chengzong asked doubtfully, "You haven't talked to them?"

"How can I have so much free time?" Lu Shanji was very busy, spending most of his energy on clearing the Zhongwei military farms and replenishing the Zhongwei warehouses. If Sun Chengzong didn't summon him, he wouldn't even return to the yamen for several days. Let alone communicate with Mi Wanzhong and Jin Zhong.

"That's right." Sun Chengzong chuckled. "If you have time, you should spend more time with them. They won't be leaving Tianjin anytime soon."

Lu Shanji nodded and asked, "But what does this have to do with you sparing those people?"

(End of this chapter)