Chapter 89

Qin Shi was joking; Magistrate Qin was not her natal family.

Letting Wang Ju sit down, Wang Ju said, "This year, Chancellor Cheng plans to move the imperial examination to late July."

"Isn't that only a month away?"

"Uh-huh."

"That's why I came to ask about the bamboo paper situation, and whether the candidates for the future shareholding have been selected."

"About a dozen households have been chosen. At the Zhu family, I asked Mr. Zhu to bring them over."

A while later, Zhu Huan brought over the documents.

Wang Ju examined them carefully.

He didn't know some, but many he did. Since they were deliberately selected, their backgrounds were generally good.

Suddenly, Wang Ju saw a person named Sima Zheng, who was said to be a clan nephew of Sima Guang from the Censorate. This was a bit of a stretch, but the Sima family of Shu River was a well-known prominent family locally. Not only did Sima Chi and Sima Guang hold office, but many Simas became officials of the Song Dynasty and were very wealthy. Sima Chi had assets worth 100,000 strings of cash when he was in office, but he distributed them to several impoverished uncles.

But by being associated with Sima Guang, he was considered a person with a background, and he also participated in the jade salt sales.

The evaluation on the document said he was loyal and honest.

However, Wang Ju put it aside; he couldn't be associated with Sima Guang, or he would be in trouble in a few years.

But this didn't surprise him. Then he saw another person named Han Gongsheng, who was said to be a clan grandson of Han Qi. Well, a clan grandson. And Wang Ju knew that in the future, the Han family's land would extend from Anyang in Xiangzhou to Neihuang in Daming Prefecture, with Yue Fei becoming a tenant of the Han family. This land alone was thousands of hectares. Of course, it wasn't just Han Qi's achievement, indicating that the Han family had many capable people in business.

But Wang Ju put it aside again.

The Han family couldn't be involved either.

It wasn't until the second-to-last page that Wang Ju found a suitable person, Gao Shiqing from Mengcheng. His great-grandfather was a cousin of Gao Qiong, who had a son named Gao Jixun. Both father and son were famous generals of the Song Dynasty. Gao Jixun had a granddaughter named Gao Taotao. Well, this was a bit of a stretch, but being associated with the Gao family, it was only about five or six generations, closer than the relationship between Magistrate Qin and the Qin family by three or four generations...

The evaluation on the document said he was smooth, but because he was far in Mengcheng, people didn't know much about him. However, there was another person in the Gao family, Gao Zunxiao, who served as a military supervisor in Yan Prefecture and had just died. This person might have a keen sense and learned about the fine salt from Gao Zunxiao.

After hearing about it, Gao Shiqing personally came to Guanzhong to participate, which happened two months ago, but he hadn't joined yet. His background was quite formidable, and he would be able to join in the next round. Therefore, Zhu Huan kept an eye on him and recorded it. However, Zhu Huan wasn't very clear about how much property he had or what his family situation was.

The Gao family of Mengcheng represented a large clan, and Gao Shiqing was just one of its members.

Wang Ju put down all the documents and said, "Send someone to Mengcheng to investigate. If he is qualified, it will be him."

Zhu Huan and Mr. Li understood.

Gao Shiqing might not know, but Gao Taotao was the Empress of the Song Dynasty, the mother of the nation.

Zhu Huan said, "Didn't you say you wanted to choose three households?"

Wang Ju shook his head, "No, after this incident, I see clearly that without a background, managing a large business, the merchants of Yan Prefecture cannot control it. The strategy to counteract it is just a paper tiger. Although this matter is settled, the cost is that the master has to give up all the shares."

"Let it be, as you said, money is never enough, what's the point of having so much money? As long as everyone is safe, that's fine."

"Not exactly, mainly because salt is a gray area. Including my teacher, although they know it brings considerable benefits to the country every year, they still have some reservations. Moreover, giving up shares is just the first step. If the technology is released in two years, I hope my father-in-law, Mr. Zhao, and the few households involved in bamboo paper will also give up their shares, and I will too."

Mr. Li nodded.

Once the technology is released, Yan Prefecture must purchase a large amount of private salt. With other income, why bother with this private salt?

"Bamboo paper is different; this share must not be given up."

Wang Ju looked at the paper in his hand and said, "If this person is suitable, tell him we can give him a quarter share."

"So much?"

"Not too much, or he won't be fully committed. Actually, if we had chosen three households, a quarter share wouldn't have been enough."

"True."

"Moreover, once the profit is high, can one person handle a quarter share?"

"Would someone dare to touch the Gao family?"

"No one dares to touch the Gao family, but the Gao family might dare to touch the Gao family."

Everyone suddenly understood. In that case, it wouldn't just be Gao Shiqing, but possibly several Gao family members. If so, the backing would be strong.

"Give him another favorable condition: from research and development to production, he doesn't have to pay any costs."

"This is a favor to him, but he must make a contribution. The share cannot be changed, and the magistrate of Hangzhou must be the witness to this contract."

"If there are difficulties or disputes, as long as it's not a heinous crime, he must step in to resolve it."

"He can send people to participate in financial management but cannot interfere with production."

Use a quarter share to get a protective umbrella.

Mr. Li invited Zhu Huan to stay for dinner. During the meal, Zhu Huan suddenly looked at Wang Ju and Li Feier and jokingly asked, "When are you getting married?"

Li Feier quickly lowered her head with her bowl, her big eyes smiling like crescent moons.

Wang Ju found it amusing and said, "Maybe in two years, Chancellor Cheng has great confidence in me."

Everyone laughed.

"But I'm not sure. Even if I pass the fifth class, I want to follow Zhang Dun's example and refuse the imperial command to retake the exam."

"That's true," Zhu Huan said.

The fifth class was very unfortunate. With the increase in the number of jinshi, the number of officials was excessive, and the fifth class might not be appointed for a long time, and promotion was difficult. Magistrate Qin, who was a fifth-class jinshi, had to endure for decades before finally becoming the magistrate of Huayin.

But retaking the exam was extremely rare. Most fifth-class jinshi had slightly lacking scholarship and were lucky to pass, so they dared not retake the exam. Even for the other four classes, who knew if they could do well next time. Therefore, those who dared to refuse the command and retake the exam were super strong.

But Wang Ju should be one of these strong people.

"Therefore, I plan to take the exam once, twice, three times. Even if I pass in the first four classes by luck, I don't know when I will be appointed. The initial position is often a deputy, and even the top scholar is only a vice-magistrate when appointed. Although I have been with my teacher for many years, Yunyan is a small county, and I still need to learn and deal with the chief official. This will take time..."

"But time flies, and four years will pass in the blink of an eye. Don't worry, Feier will be better than the wife of Song Hong in the Han Dynasty."

Everyone laughed again.

Actually, Li Feier was too young, and Wang Ju couldn't bear to...

...

Cheng Kan received 30,000 strings of cash from the Ding family and had the clerks list the poor households in Yan Prefecture and the households below the fifth class. Fugitive households were not considered; the Song Dynasty did not prohibit fugitive households but despised them. Fugitive households due to famine were pitiable, but some people did it to avoid taxes and corvée, so they became fugitive households and vagrants. As an official, could he tolerate his people not paying taxes or serving corvée?

Then he used the 30,000 strings of cash to buy some cloth, tea, and other daily necessities to help the elderly, widows, sick, and disabled, and exempted some poor households from taxes.

These people were struggling on the brink of life and death. A little more tax would force them to sell their children, and a little less tax would help them survive.

He did a good job.

Actually, Cheng Kan originally planned to buy a thousand or two thousand oxen, with three or four fifth-class households sharing one ox.

But oxen were counted as property in the Song Dynasty, so a fifth-class household might become a fourth-class household, and the tax would increase. Therefore, even if the oxen were given, they might be "raised to death" after a while.

This was a flaw, but if oxen were not counted as property, and land and workshops were not counted as property, what would be used to classify them, and how would the Song Dynasty's "equal people" policy be promoted?

So many problems were seen by the literati, but they were powerless to solve them.

Cheng Kan was doing it, and the court, including Emperor Zhao Shu, knew about it to some extent.

Therefore, he deliberately asked the prime ministers, "What kind of person is Cheng Kan?"

The prime ministers answered, "Cheng Kan has been in Fuyan for three or four years and is familiar with border affairs."

Emperor Zhao Shu said, "The military supervisor of Yan Prefecture, Gao Zunxiao, died, and Cheng Kan praised his abilities and asked the court to grant him posthumous honors. But Gao Zunxiao is a clan nephew of Gao Qiong, and I know he is a mediocre person. Cheng Kan is old, and this is for his descendants. If ministers are like this, what can I rely on?"

The prime ministers looked at each other.

The Gao family was vast, who knew who Gao Zunxiao was?

Mediocre, you are probably mediocre too.

Fubing said, "Cheng Kan has built border defenses in Yan Prefecture, focused on people's livelihood, trained soldiers, repaired roads, and the good outweighs the bad."

"I have also heard that."

The merits and demerits were about equal, and the matter was left unresolved.

Fubing and Han Qi, the prime ministers, walked out and felt strange. Even if Cheng Kan did it for his descendants, it was an unnecessary move. The flattery didn't work and backfired. Was this a big deal, worth discussing in the council?

Han Qi suddenly thought of someone. He had a strange expression, but it didn't matter, as he wasn't familiar with Cheng Kan...

On the other side, Sima Guang was lucky. Fortunately, he was teaching the emperor, and the emperor also asked him. Otherwise, if the emperor praised Cheng Kan, wouldn't it be embarrassing?

Thinking about it, he immediately called one of his guests, "Go to Yan Prefecture and investigate the situation, then report back to me."

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