Chapter 8 0008【Zhang Wu】
How could this be a government job?
With just one look at the father and son, Zhang Guangdao had already determined the situation.
Unless you have a broken brain, you would send out such a conspicuous operation, are you afraid that others will not notice the abnormality?
More like a wild monk escaping from the temple!
The Buddhist precepts in the Song Dynasty were not so strict. They did not prohibit monks from eating meat, and they did not require monks to shave their heads. It can be seen from the paintings of the Tang and Song Dynasties that monks at that time mainly had short hair, and layers of precepts were arranged for monks.
We have to wait for Zhu Yuanzhang.
However, Ju Ming was carrying weapons, and they were swords controlled by the imperial court, which made Zhang Guangdao a little curious.
"Are you leaving?" Zhu Ming asked.
Zhu Guoxiang said: "Let's go."
Staying in the village was not an option. After a brief exchange, the father and son agreed to go to Nabai Market together.
Zhang Guangdao called two men from the village and brought some chickens, ducks, fish and linen cloth, and took them to the market town to sell them, intending to return in exchange for some necessities such as salt.
Zhu Ming nodded when he heard this: "It makes sense, then erase it."
"You are indispensable." Zhang Guangdao said.
Zhu Ming was too lazy to chase and went on his own. After walking for a while, he turned around to check and found that the thin horse was following him again, and even lost his temper and deliberately nibbled on the rapeseed flowers.
Ju Ming deliberately followed him and said, "Corrupt officials deserve to die."
"It's just a stick." Ju Ming said.
Generally speaking, those with an area of ​​more than 400 acres belong to the first-class households, also called upper households. Those with less than 400 acres belong to the second, third, and fourth-class households, also called middle households. The remaining fifth class belong to the lower households. (
Note: Some families may have hundreds of acres of land, but they have only 10 or 20 people in the family, and sharing it can only provide food and clothing.)
As for government errands, people work as errands for the government.
Zhu Ming took off the sword and took it in his hand. He pressed the handle of the sword wrapped in a sweater and said, "Brother Zhang, do you want to buy a pen? This is a high-quality Hu pen. A pen is worth at least a hundred dollars."
But the actual operation quickly goes wrong!
Officials organized a number of households into groups so that the really big households could escape, and they specifically targeted those who had no backers.
Zhang Guangdao sneered at this and sneered: "What benefits can you get from farming? My great-great-grandfather used to be a third-class household, but when he had to do errands in front of the government, he had no choice but to break up his family and flee to the mountains."
Zhu Guoxiang was very surprised because there was about a pound of shrimps there.
The thin horse flinched in fear. Ju Ming stroked his mane and comforted him: "It hurts, please bear with it."
Passengers were disembarking one after another, only a few here and there, all carrying goods bought from the market.
Zhang Guangdao let out a low roar and pushed the thin horse to the ground. Lu Wang and Ding Dafang also rushed forward and pressed the horse's body.
After walking for a while, Zhang Guangdao couldn't help but ask: "You two really want to find a place to stay?"
Zhang Guangdao suddenly hugged the horse's neck with his arms and urged: "Do it!"
Zhu Guoxiang said to the old shrimp seller: "Let's take a look."
Baishitou is not big, just a street along the river, with shops on both sides of the street.
Since it is a New Year gift for relatives and children, the packaging must be exquisite.
Zhang Guangdao had never read a book and did not know how to read. He was looking straight at the brush box.
The horse probably still remembered the taste of the soldering iron, but this time it was disobedient and kept pacing to avoid the red-hot poker.
The shopkeeper thought about it seriously: "Sixty-five cents, no more. If anyone else comes to sell the leather, they will definitely not pay this price. Only Brother Zhang Wu has this kind of face."
"I believe it." Zhang Guangdao chuckled.
Zhu Ming, Zhu Guoxiang and his son followed Zhang Guangdao to buy salt.
The place where the official seal was was quickly burnt to black.
This beast must not be brought into the city. Even without the official seal, the origin cannot be explained. Anyone with a discerning eye will know there is something wrong at a glance.
Zhang Guangdao looked at Ju Ming's hand pressing the sword, then looked at the brush box, shook his head and said, "It's too expensive. There are also pens for sale in the Bai market, and a brush only costs ten cents."
The father and son just pretended not to hear and sped away from the shrimp stall.
At first, Li Zheng was selected from among the households and was responsible for collecting taxes and so on. In the early Song Dynasty, this was a good job, and he could make money. Gradually, it turned into a nightmare, because he could not collect enough taxes, and Li Zheng had to make up the shortfall with his own money.
"Not sure." Zhu Ming didn't do much research on prices in the Northern Song Dynasty.
"A certificate of submission?" Zhu Guoxiang didn't understand.
Although the horse was skinny and skinny and had not taken in salt for several months, so it probably didn't have much strength left, Zhang Guangdao's strength was still staggering.
Zhu Ming smiled and said: "It's a sword, can you believe it, Brother Zhang?"
"This is a picked-up horse. I hand it over to the government when I encounter it." Zhu Ming explained.
Ding Dafang immediately went home and brought firewood, took out the fire sickle to light it, and burned the poker to use as a soldering iron.
Zhu Guoxiang stopped moving forward, put down his backpack, and took out a writing brush: "Actually, we are businessmen. We were robbed by bandits on the way, and we finally escaped. Look at this writing brush, it is the remaining goods after being robbed."
The shrimp seller was an old farmer. Due to his accent, I didn't understand much, but he could guess that Ju Ming was asking about the price. He immediately grinned and said, "This is all I have left. You can take the four cents."
Ju Ming took the poker and walked to the side of the thin horse.
There was a sizzling sound, and the thin horse kicked its hooves wildly in pain, unable to break free from Zhang Guangdao's arms.
One is due to the increasingly serious horse shortage, and the other is due to rising prices and inflation.
At the suggestion of Prime Minister Han Qi, Li Zheng's unlucky job was cancelled, and related affairs were handled by the upper and middle households in turn. There were strict regulations on how many people were needed for an errand, how many places were allocated to the first-class households, and how many people were allocated to the first-class households.
How many places are there for second-class households? Even if we share it equally, we won’t go bankrupt.
Zhang Guangdao glanced at the horse's butt and deliberately reminded: "The mark must be wiped off, be careful of lawsuits."
Ju Ming looked back at the village and smiled coldly: "I'm afraid the whole village is a den of thieves, an outpost of a bandit village on the riverside. Of course, they are also real farmers. They farm when the farming is busy and rob when the farming is slack. This is
It was normal in remote areas in ancient times.”
The boatman didn't say much, but sent them off enthusiastically.
Zhang Guangdao chuckled and said: "The government is worried about not catching the horse thief. You said you were going to sacrifice the horse, but the official came and took the stolen goods."
There is a ferry near the market town, and a wooden boat is parked on the shore.
The five of them stood at the ferry and waited for about half an hour before the boatman slowly brought the guests to the shore.
The two men from the village who were traveling together were named Lu Wang and Ding Dafang.
Zhang Guangdao took the fine deer skin into a shop on the street and patted the deer skin directly on the counter.
The shopkeeper looked carefully, pointed at something and said: "This place is broken."
Zhang Guangdao said to Ding Dafang: "Go and get some firewood."
These words made Zhang Guangdao even more convinced that the father and son were monks who had returned to secular life, and that the high-end brushes were probably stolen from the temple.
Counting Ju Ming and his son, a total of five people set out.
Zhang Guangdao heard this and praised: "Business cannot be done without benevolence and righteousness. This is so well said. Brother Zhu is indeed a scholar!"
The ferry slowly sailed to the other side. Before disembarking, Zhang Guangdao said, "Write it down in my account."
When Zhu Ming saw the other party opening the skylight and speaking openly, he also revealed a little bit of information: "To be honest with the Zhang family brother, my father and son want to settle down, buy a few acres of land, marry a wife, have children and spread the family."
Zhu Guoxiang asked his son in a low voice: "How many RMB is half a pound equivalent to?"
Many farmers selling local goods choose to trade outside the market or sell their goods along the street.
"Submit your name." Zhu Ming said.
Zhang Guangdao said with a smile: "This beast is interesting and understands human nature. Why don't you sell it to me and take away half of the money. Don't think it's a small amount of money. It's too hungry and thin. You'll have to take good care of it when you take it home."
Ju Ming looked a little embarrassed: "I don't have a penny on me."
The price of salt in mountainous areas is quite expensive. A pound of salt costs 20 Wen. However, in a place with convenient transportation, a pound of salt costs 10 Wen, which is a lot.
Zhang Guangdao smiled generously and said, "I'll pay for the boat."
After struggling for a long time, the thin horse regained its freedom and ran a long way out of breath.
To be continued...