Huangzhuang?
Song Wenyi was stunned for a moment, with a bit of surprise on his face, but at the same time, he was also a bit disappointed.
Although I already knew that I would not be admitted to the Department of Ceremonies, I had already prepared for it, so my mentality was pretty good.
Moreover, the emperor just said that Jin Ying recommended him before leaving and praised him for his talent in making money.
Coupled with Wang Cheng's attitude towards him recently, Song Wenyi fully thought that the emperor planned to send him to assist Wang Cheng in managing the imperial store.
Unexpectedly, in the end, he was only responsible for the imperial village.
You know, Huangdian and Huangzhuang are just one word different, but their meanings are completely different.
The Huangdian now sells very large plates, which is not only one of the stable financial resources for the internal treasury, but is also covered by the Ministry of Household Affairs outside the country. When it reaches the border, there are also border troops to escort it. In addition, the Huangdian only deals with mutual transactions.
Buying and selling, with the endorsement of the imperial court, is almost guaranteed to make a profit, and it is both safe and profitable.
However, Huangzhuang is different. Although this Huangzhuang carries the word "emperor", to put it bluntly, it is no different from an ordinary farm.
It was nothing more than handing over the royal private fields to ordinary tenants for cultivation and then collecting the land rent.
It sounds simple, but in fact, there are many difficulties in the process.
The fields may be thick or thin, the tenants may be cunning or honest, and farming depends on the weather. How much harvest can be produced in a year? There are so many places where fraud can occur.
If it's an ordinary Zhuangzi, forget it, but don't forget that this is an imperial village, the emperor's property. If he can't pay the rent, or if he takes over, it's not as good as before, no matter what the reason is, he will definitely be punished.
This one is in charge.
Song Wenyi was praised by Jin Ying for his accomplishments in wealth and goods, which was certainly justified. Although he did not know the specific situation of Huangzhuang, the emperor's words just now were enough for Song Wenyi to guess a lot of things.
The Imperial Mansion and the Imperial Store were both properties owned by the emperor before he ascended the throne. This is not a strange thing.
Although the Ming Dynasty treated its feudal kings well, the feudal kings lived a luxurious life and no amount of money was enough to spend. Therefore, it was common to do business privately.
Of course, according to the regulations, the court does not allow it. Once discovered, it will be reprimanded at the least, and... reprimanded at the most severe!
Yes, for ordinary clans, it is an iron rule that no business is allowed, but for the feudal king, this is not the case.
On the one hand, the vassal kings from all over the country were close relatives of the emperor, and they had to maintain a close relationship; on the other hand, the vassal kings had noble status after all.
Don't make a fuss over trivial business matters. Unless someone has been reprimanded repeatedly but still refuses to repent, measures such as cutting salary or transferring titles will be adopted.
Before the emperor ascended the throne, he was granted the title of King Tao. However, he only had a title and no fiefdom, so naturally he could not enjoy the benefits of the fiefdom.
In this way, in order to maintain the expenses of the palace, it is not a surprise to have some private properties.
Song Wenyi naturally inquired about this point some time ago.
Although there were many vassal kings doing business privately in the Ming Dynasty, they did not dare to make too much noise after all. At least, as far as King Tan was concerned, he was in the capital after all, so he just found a few servants and opened some shops privately.
That's all.
At that time, the real big head was actually the farm, which is now the imperial village. This was also the main source of income for most feudal lords.
Later, after the emperor succeeded to the throne, he turned those shops into imperial stores. With the support of the inner treasury and the strength of mutual trade, the imperial stores expanded rapidly.
In comparison, Huangzhuang seems to have no sense of existence.
After all, these imperial estates were the private property of Prince Ni's palace at the time, but the problem was that Prince Ni at that time did not have a fief, so he could not receive land grants from the fief like ordinary vassal princes.
There are some farms in the Prince's Palace, that is, some farms near Gyeonggi that were occasionally given by the late emperor and the Supreme Emperor.
These farms, let alone compared with other vassal princes, even supported the original Prince Ni's palace. Otherwise, Prince Ni would not secretly run a shop anymore.
What's more, now that the emperor has ascended the throne, with the help of the imperial store and a rich internal treasury, the income of the imperial store is even more dispensable.
This is why Song Wenyi feels frustrated.
He fully thought that when he entered the capital, he would be put to good use, but what he didn't expect was that what he got was just a dispensable imperial estate.
From this, it can be seen that he is not a character worthy of attention in the emperor's heart.
From this perspective, he might as well go back and be his own Liaodong garrison eunuch.
At least, the sky is high and the emperor is far away, and you are free.
Even if we don't talk about these, let's just say that this Huangzhuang was previously run by Wang Cheng together with Huangdian. Song Wenyi could foresee that this would definitely be a hard job.
Just managing the farm is not a difficult task. He owns many farms. Doing these things is easy and not difficult.
But the problem is that he took it over from Wang Cheng!
Who is this prince?
The young eunuch of the imperial prison, the person in charge of the imperial store, will the harvest of the imperial store he manages be bad?
Everyone has been in the palace and knows some things well.
The most important thing in the palace is not to get things done, but to let the nobles feel and see that you have done things well.
The emperor just made it very clear that it was because the stalls in the Huangdian were too big that he separated the Huangzhuang and gave it to Song Wenyi. This shows that the Emperor is still very satisfied with the Huangzhuang managed by Wang Cheng.
Where does this satisfaction come from?
Anyway, it was Song Wenyi who held Huangdian in one hand and Huangzhuang in the other, using Huangdian between his fingers to slightly subsidize Huangzhuang. It was simply easier than drinking water.
They are all the emperor's property. What does it mean if you do well? If you do a few small actions, you can win praise in front of the emperor. How can you not do it?
Therefore, I guess you know that under Wang Cheng's management, the harvest of Huangzhuang in the past two years must be very good.
But the problem is that Song Wenyi doesn’t have an imperial shop in his hands!
If it were just the Imperial Manor that he took over from the very beginning, even if he did a slightly bad job, he could still find a way to fool the emperor.
But now, he took it from Wang Cheng. What should the emperor think if his performance is not as good as usual?
At a mild level, I feel that he is incompetent. If it is more serious, I am afraid that he is not willing to work hard. Even more serious, I feel that he is corrupt in private.
To put it bluntly, how could Song Wenyi not feel frustrated by such a drudgery?
Although this look was fleeting, he could clearly see what kind of person Zhu Qiyu was, so he snorted softly and said.
"What, you're not satisfied?"
This sentence frightened Song Wenyi and he immediately came back to his senses. He couldn't help but cursed himself secretly in his heart. He had stayed out for too long and had even forgotten his own duties.
This is in front of the Emperor. If you really make him angry, don't even think about returning to Liaodong or Huangzhuang. You can just go to Fengyang to guard the mausoleum.
Feeling the displeasure in the emperor's tone, Song Wenyi sweated profusely and kowtowed repeatedly, saying.
"I don't dare, slave."
"Your Majesty, please forgive me, I just suddenly remembered something."
"A few days ago, when I came to the capital, I passed by the suburbs and heard some old farmers talking about how the capital city had just experienced an earthquake a few days ago, which caused some delays in the farming season, which may affect the next year's harvest."
"Your Majesty just talked about Huangzhuang, so this servant thought of it. I was afraid that the harvest of Huangzhuang would also be delayed, so I couldn't reply in time."
"The Imperial Mansion was your Majesty's property when you were living in the palace. Your Majesty's willingness to hand it over to your slave is a great favor. I have a hundred courages, but I can only do my best. How dare I think of anything else."
To say that Song Wenyi was somewhat quick-witted, he really found a decent reason in this short period of time.
But despite this, the emperor's face was still a little gloomy.
After glancing at Song Wenyi, Zhu Qiyu said nothing, turned around and walked into the hall, followed closely by Shu Liang and Hua En.
The wind and snow were rolling, but Song Wenyi was still kneeling on the cold ground, a little at a loss.
Just when he was hesitating whether to follow or not, Wang Cheng, who was at the end, suddenly took two steps back, grabbed his clothes, and said in a low voice as if he hated iron.
"Get up and follow me. Why are you so stunned?"
So Song Wenyi quickly stood up and followed him anxiously.
There were two seasons inside and outside the palace. When Song Wenyi entered the palace, the emperor was already leaning on the couch, holding a red pen in his hand, and started reviewing memorials.
Shu Liang and Hua En were waiting carefully on the side. Wang Cheng stood a little far away. Song Wenyi didn't dare to approach at first, but Wang Cheng grabbed his clothes and forcefully pulled him forward.
Even so, looking at the emperor's face, Song Wenyi still shrank back and stood there with his head lowered, not daring to express his anger.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but just when Song Wenyi felt that a whole year had passed, a voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"Song Wenyi, do you know why I want to hand over the Imperial Manor to you?"
The voice was not loud, but it shocked Song Wenyi. He secretly raised his head to look at the emperor, but at some point, the emperor had put down the ink pen in his hand and was looking at him.
At the same time, Wang Cheng, who was standing next to him, tugged on his clothes and motioned for him to step forward quickly. After swallowing his saliva, Song Wenyi boldly took two steps forward and said.
"This slave is stupid. I wonder if she was lucky enough to receive a few compliments from Eunuch Jin Ying, so she gained His Majesty's trust."
"Yes and no!"
Song Wenyi could clearly feel that the emperor's eyes were always on him, with an inexplicable meaning, which made him feel very uneasy.
The emperor's voice sounded again, with a complicated tone, saying.
"When I stayed in the mansion, there were not many farmhouses. After it was converted into a farm, there were only a few. In the past, Wang Cheng was in charge of the imperial store, and he took care of it with his help, but now, it is no longer possible..."
Just when Song Wenyi was trying to figure out the meaning of these words, the emperor suddenly changed the subject and asked.
"You just said that when I came to Beijing, I heard from an old farmer that the earth dragon's turning has affected the farming season and may delay next year's harvest. But have you heard any other news?"
Song Wenyi didn't expect that the emperor's topic would change so quickly, and he didn't know what the emperor was asking. Therefore, after hesitating for a moment, he had to speak cautiously.
"Back to Your Majesty, I was in a hurry. I just rested for a while on the roadside and listened to a few words. There was no more news..."
After finishing speaking, Song Wenyi felt anxious. He knew very well that this was not the answer the emperor wanted, but for the moment, this was the safest answer.
After all, he still doesn't know the emperor well enough to speculate on the holy will rashly. If he succeeds, that's fine. If he guesses wrong, I'm afraid this will be the last time he sees the emperor.
But this time, the emperor was not angry, but sighed and said.
"Shu Liang, tell him."
"yes……"
After receiving the order, Shu Liang, who had been standing nearby with a low eyebrow, immediately turned around, cupped his hands towards Song Wenyi, and said.
"Eunuch Song may not know that the earth dragon turned over a few days ago caused serious losses inside and outside the capital. Although the imperial court tried its best to provide relief, there are still many people who are in trouble due to the earth dragon turned over and the subsequent epidemic."
"What's even more hateful is that at this time, in Wanping, Daxing, Tongzhou and many other prefectures and counties, there are still squires who take this opportunity to force people to sell their fields and buy them at low prices. The situation is overturned, the people are suffering, and the court is busy. But here we are.
In the end, these country squires got an advantage."
"Our family has sent people to investigate, and it is not the first time that some squires have done this. The local government either colluded with the squires, or sat aside and ignored such robberies. If the people reported it to the government, not only would they be helpless,
After returning from work, they were tortured by these gentry. For this reason, no less than dozens of people were tortured to death..."
Shu Liang said these words so seriously that even Song Wenyi couldn't help but tighten his heartstrings.
However, it is one thing on the surface, but another thing on the inside.
After hearing these words, Song Wenyi's face was equally heavy, but he couldn't help but feel doubts in his heart.
You know, this kind of thing is very common in the local area. When he was in Liaodong, not to mention the years of disaster, even in the years of peace, there were still gentry relying on their power to annex fields overtly or covertly.
Even some of the properties under his own name came from this...
Local officials have no control over this kind of thing. It is said that the imperial power does not go to the countryside. In many places, the most effective person to speak is not the county magistrate, but the gentry in those places. After all, they are the local cowards.
The officials worked for a few years and then left. They are the people who are deeply rooted in the local area. Moreover, there are usually things like building rivers and erecting monuments, which require recruiting corvees and manpower. It is difficult for the county government to handle it.
Maybe we need their help.
Therefore, it is difficult for the local government to control some things. What's more, although some gentry act wantonly, most gentry still pay attention to some face. Many times, they use both soft and hard tactics, half force and half inducement, just like
Now that the earth dragon has turned around, although they are taking advantage of the situation, they still have money and land deeds. In the end, even if someone regrets it and starts arguing, it will be a public case that is difficult to resolve.
Because the county government sometimes relies on these squires, generally speaking, if this kind of thing happens, as long as it doesn't cause too much trouble, the local government will resolve it with Xini.
Therefore, Song Wenyi really didn't understand how such a trivial matter could be put on the emperor's desk, and why it could be said so solemnly by a person like Shu Liang.
At this moment, the emperor's voice sounded again.
"Song Wenyi, what do you think of what Shu Liang just said?"
This chapter has been completed!