Xia Yan's name is Gong Jin, a native of Guixi County, Jiangxi Province. He is nearly forty years this year. Both age and official age can be regarded as Xu Jin's predecessor. Xia Yan has always admired and admired Xu Jin, a fellow villager. After all, not everyone has the courage to propose the Qingtianzhuang. Xu Jin not only mentioned it, but also did not fear power, but directly crushed the most prominent relative Zhang's family, and resolutely reopened the land around the capital, increasing the country's levy by nearly 100,000 hectares of land.

One hundred thousand hectares of fu fields are not a small amount, not to mention that only the northern Zhili area has cleared 100,000 hectares of fu fields, which made Xia Yan see the reversal of the national financial dilemma and the revival of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, Xia Yan followed Xu Jin to inspect Nanzhili and Zhejiang this time, full of passion and enthusiasm, and was ready to make great efforts to clear the land in the two provinces of Zhangzhou and Zhangzhou, increase the land for the Ming Dynasty and increase the treasury tax revenue.

However, Xu Jin's performance in Yangzhou made Xia Yan very disappointed and even angry. Xu Jin just accepted the welcome banquet from the local officials last night. After all, this is a normal relationship and there is no blame. However, Xu Jin blatantly accepted bribes from the local officials today, which naturally made the upright Lord Xia very angry.

In fact, Xia Yan had already come to Xu Jin once this morning, and Xu Jin was not here, so Xia Yan could only leave angrily and took more than a dozen clerks and officials from the Ministry of Revenue to the government office, asking the officials to take out the yellow book and fish scale picture album of Yangzhou Prefecture to check, and prepare to re-clear the land of Yangzhou Prefecture.

It is worth mentioning here that the household registration book and land fish scale album of the Ming Dynasty were in four copies, one was archived in the Ministry of Revenue. In addition, the provincial governors, government offices, and county offices were kept by one. Xu Jin and Xia Yan were ordered to supervise the land clearance of the land in Zhizhe and Zhejiang. Naturally, they would not bring out the information archived by the Ministry of Revenue, but waited to the local area before collecting materials.

However, Xia Yan went to Yangzhou government office today to ask for yellow book and fish scale picture album, but the officials shirked the responsibility for various reasons. Sometimes they said that the responsible chief officer went out without the key to the warehouse, and sometimes they said that the fire had damaged part of it and had not had time to re-record...

As a result, Xia Yan was hung in the government office for most of the day, but in the end he still didn't get the yellow book and the fish scale picture album. Lord Xia, who was so angry, returned to his residence. When he asked Xu Jin that he had returned, he came to him angrily.

"Does Lord Xu still remember the purpose of this mission?" When Xia Yan saw Xu Jin coming out, he immediately brushed his sleeves and stood in the yard and questioned angrily.

Xu Jin bowed his hands and said calmly: "Why did Lord Xia say this? This time, I was ordered to govern Zhizhe and preside over the Qing and Zhangzhou provinces of land, how could I forget it?"

Xia Yan's expression cleared a little, and said in a deep voice: "Since that's the case, why did Lord Xu come to Yangzhou and accept gifts from local officials and gentry unscrupulously? Today, if Lord Xu tells me why, it would be better if I am the deputy envoy of the imperial envoy, I will take back to Beijing to register for you."

Xu Jin smiled and said, "Mr. Xia, please be calm, come in and have a detailed discussion!"

Xia Yan brushed his sleeves and walked into the hall with high apology. He was not worried that Xu Jin would be unfavorable to him, not to mention that it would not be easy for Xu Jin to kill him to silence him. Now the entire house is under the control of the Five Hundred Battalions, so there is no difference whether they enter the hall or not.

Xia Yan entered the hall and saw the two twins kneeling on the ground, and was stunned for a moment. Xu Jin did not expect that the two girls were still kneeling and coughed lightly, "Get up, don't be the example, early summer, go and cook a pot of tea."

It is said that the two girls in early spring and early summer were trained by the Duke of Wei’s Mansion. They were used to being cautious and cautious. However, when they arrived at the relaxed environment of the Xu Mansion, they began to "restraint". They were scolded by Xu Jin just now, and both little cabbages were scared, so they knelt down and dared not get up without Xu Jin’s consent.

At this time, when he heard Xu Jin's instructions, both women breathed a sigh of relief. Chuxia stood up with red eyes to make tea, while Chuchun stood gentlely.

It was normal for a maid to be punished by the master's family. Xia Yan didn't find it strange. He sat down next to the coffee table with a calm face, waiting for Xu Jin to give him a reasonable explanation. In fact, in Xia Yan's opinion, Xu Jin was not the kind of person who was greedy for money. Otherwise, how could he take the blame for the world? First, he advocated the clearance of the fields and even offended the nobles and gentry in the court and cleared the land in the capital again.

"Chuxia, give the gift list I received today to Lord Xia." Xu Jin ordered.

"Yes, lord!" Chuchun agreed crisply and presented a book to Xia Yan, which recorded all the list of officials and gentry who came to give gifts today, as well as the gifts they gave.

Xia Yan took the account in confusion and opened it, and immediately took a breath of air. In just one day, there were more than 100 local officials and gentry gifts recorded on the notebook, worth a total of 120,000 taels of silver, which was undoubtedly a huge sum of money.

Xu Jin smiled and joked, "Three years of Qing magistrate, 100,000 snowflakes. I, the imperial envoy, only arrived in Yangzhou by order, made 120,000 taels of silver in one day. It can be seen that Yangzhou is indeed a prosperous place of gold and powder. It is easy to imagine how rich the local officials and gentry are."

At this time, Chu Xia had already brewed a pot of tea and came in. He pouted his mouth slightly to pour a cup of tea for Xu Jin and Xia Yan, and then retreated to his sister.

Xia Yan's expression was unstable, and he was a little unsure about Xu Jin's real intention of showing him this account book!

"There are probably going to be some officials and gentry to come to the door to give gifts in the past few days. Lord Xia doesn't have to rush to clear the land. When the list is settled, Lord Xu will follow the list one by one. Wouldn't it be worrying?" Xu Jin smiled while drinking tea.

Xia Yan took a breath again and had to admire Xu Jin's clever trick. The officials and gentry who came to give gifts were definitely unclear. The more money he gave, the more hidden land he illegally occupied and hidden in his home. At that time, according to this list of gifts, he could clear the land in a targeted manner. It would definitely be accurate to catch one by one, and it could also have the deterrent effect of killing the chicken and scaring the monkey.

Poor local officials and gentry who gave gifts must have thought that the imperial envoy would rest assured if he received the gift, but he did not expect that he would fall in love with himself and pay for money and land.

Xia Yan swallowed with difficulty, and his eyes at Xu Jin changed. This guy did not act according to common sense and was strange and changeable. He was similar to the king of Xinjian, Wang Shouren. No wonder Wuding Hou Guo Xun and his relative Zhang family were defeated in his hands one after another. This time, the local officials and gentry in Yangzhou were probably cheated.

"Mr. Xu, how do you deal with the money sent by these officials?" Xia Yan's face disappeared without any anger, and he changed into a hint of respect.

Xu Jin said calmly: "Mr. Xia must be clear that the national treasury is now tight. Last year, Lord Chen Jiuchou only brought five hundred cavalry to inspect Gansu. I think our great Ming Dynasty, how powerful it was at the beginning of the founding of the country. Wherever the army arrived, the Diyi was invincible, and now he has fallen to this point. How sad it is!"

Xia Yan sighed: "Mr. Xu said very much. Now that our Ming Dynasty treasury is empty, even the food and salary of the border troops will be almost unable to be paid. If this continues, it will inevitably endanger our Ming Dynasty's fortune. It is precisely because of this that the officials strongly advocated clearing the land to increase national tax revenue and reverse the current dilemma of financial difficulties. Mr. Xu is a knowledgeable person, and the officials should encourage him with Lord Xu."

Xu Jin wanted to tell Xia Yan that there are many ways to increase the treasury income, and there is no need to always focus on the Futian. In fact, opening up the maritime ban and interoperability trade is also a shortcut to strengthening the country and enriching the people. However, Xia Yan may not listen to these things now, let alone there is no opportunity to open the maritime ban now. Let’s do it step by step. First, clear the land to improve the financial situation of the Ming Dynasty, and then seek to open the maritime ban. After all, if you take a big step, you will easily get rid of the eggs.

"This time we went to Jiangnan, the number of people was nearly a thousand people. People were fed by horses and fed them. They spent a lot of money every day. The money received was treated as daily expenses. However, the Ministry of Revenue allocated it. The rest was handed over to the treasury after returning to Beijing." Xu Jin said while drinking tea.

Although Xia Yan is an upright person, he is not an old-fashioned official who does not know how to adapt. Otherwise, he would not have advocated Qingtianzhuang. He nodded and said, "It depends on Lord Xu. Before he was appointed, Meng Lang, and I apologize to Lord Xu!"

Xu Jin smiled and said, "Mr. Xia doesn't have to do this. An old saying goes: using copper as a mirror to correct your clothes and hats, using ancient as a mirror to know the rise and fall, and using people as a mirror to understand gains and losses. This time the emperor used Master Xia as his deputy envoy to set up a mirror for his official. If the official has done something wrong, I hope Master Xia will correct me."

Xia Yan's face became hot and said hurriedly: "Mr. Xu is too proud. Xia Yan is ashamed of him. As long as Master Xu does not dislike him, the subordinate will do his best to assist him."

In fact, Xia Yan knew very well that the reason why he was lucky enough to become the deputy envoy of the imperial envoy this time was not that the emperor took the liking of him, but that Xu Jin took the initiative to propose that he be the deputy envoy.

At this moment, Xia Yan actually felt like a soldier died for his confidant. Of course, this description may be a bit too much, but Lord Xia was indeed very excited and full of energy at this moment. It was undoubtedly a very pleasant thing to be recognized and valued by others.

"Although Lord Xu has a clear conscience, this matter is easily criticized. I wonder if there is a way to deal with it?" Xia Yan asked. Being able to ask this question shows that Xia Yan is really thinking about Xu Jin, the Shangguan.

Xu Jin smiled and said, "When the land is started, I will next document to rebuke the officials and gentry who gave gifts for illegal bribery, and all the money collected will be confiscated to show punishment!"

Xia Yan couldn't help but speechless. If it weren't for personal contact, he would have been unable to believe that a young guy under twenty was so "treacherous and cunning". The young man was so terrifying. He felt that his seven or eight years of officialdom had been in vain.

It is worth mentioning here that Xia Yan was a Jinshi in the 12th year of Zhengde. After careful calculation, he only entered the officialdom for about seven years.
Chapter completed!