"Mr. Wang, how much can you sell for a ten-pound jar of fine wine in Bozhou?" Zhang Ximeng asked Wang Guangyang casually.
Wang Guangyang said: "This is not cheap. In fact, Liu Futong's place also prohibits alcohol, but it's a pity that not many people listen to it. A jar of ten kilograms of wine, or a better one, will probably cost five taels of silver!"
Zhang Xi nodded and asked: "Then, how much wine can one stone of food produce?"
Wang Guangyang took a deep breath, he had never calculated this before, "There are always dozens of kilograms."
"How much does one stone of grain cost here?"
Wang Guangyang suddenly took a breath and his expression changed.
According to the standards of later generations, one hundred kilograms of grain can brew thirty-fifty kilograms of liquor with a temperature of 55 degrees... The current technology is not as good as that of later generations, and the alcohol yield rate will be lower, but don't forget that the alcohol content of the current liquor is also
It's ridiculously low, probably over 20 degrees, which is considered fine wine.
Anyway, no matter how you speculate, one stone of grain, one hundred and twenty kilograms, and eighty kilograms of wine, or a discount of forty kilograms, is quite scary.
Because on Zhu Yuanzhang's side, one stone of grain is only worth two guan of treasure notes, and one tael of silver can be exchanged for two guan of five treasure notes... At this point in the calculation, even a fool knows that on Zhu Jiajun's side, they get grain to make wine, and get
If you go to Bozhou and sell it, you can start making at least five times the profit.
And there is another key point here. The grain for brewing cannot be calculated according to the market price. In fact, the profit may be more than ten times.
After deducting all expenses, there are several times the net profit.
At this point, it's not just as simple as making people crazy.
Wang Guangyang, as the only major civil servant following Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhang Ximeng, was naturally responsible for the investigation of this case. When he faced the terrifying profits, he was frightened and his mouth was dry.
Subconsciously, I grabbed the teacup and took a sip.
"Xiang Zhang, if this is wine, if you drink it in one gulp, you will almost be worth money, right?"
Zhang Ximeng nodded slightly. The reason why he found it difficult to ban alcohol was because he expected huge profits, but he did not expect that the profits would be so huge!
"How much can Hu Sanshe eat? The owner of the restaurant didn't even take him seriously. He was still thinking about currying favor with Xu Da, Tang He... They already knew that such a big piece of fat must be eaten.
Pull more people to death, so that you can make money safely, otherwise the lord's knife will fall on his head!" Zhang Ximeng said, suddenly glanced at Wang Guangyang, "Mr. Wang, you won't be involved too, will you?
?”
Wang Guangyang was so frightened that he quickly waved his hands, "Xiang Zhang, I, I don't dare! Besides, this, this matter happened in Dingyuan, I, I only joined the position after crossing the river. I am not familiar with these people...
…”
"shut up!"
Zhang Ximeng shouted flatly: "Mr. Wang, when is this? What are you telling me about the Huaixi people and the people crossing the Yangtze River... Are you still here, touch your head?"
In a word, Wang Guangyang's heart is so cold.
He really felt scared and uneasy.
Zhang Ximeng did not scare him.
The benefits involved in banning alcohol are too great, and everyone wants to take a bite. Everyone's eyes are red whether they can eat or not.
If when handling a case, you cannot enforce the law impartially, but instead make some identity distinction, you are an old man from Huaixi, and I am a person who came after crossing the river. I did not make any mistakes, it is all you who are wrong... If you really do this, there will definitely be trouble in the future.
endless.
Even if you escape this storm, sooner or later you will be unable to handle it.
When the time comes, it is not impossible for the old life to be lost, or even for the Silk Clan to be wiped out!
"Mr. Wang, you are so much older than me. You already have a wife and children. I don't need to say anything about some things... If you have to tell me, I just think it's difficult for an upright official to be honest, but it's easy to be an upright official! Keep your mind at ease.
That's right, my lord can see it, and so can all of us. After all, there are so many pairs of eyes up and down, and if you do something, you will inevitably be discovered!"
Wang Guangyang pondered for a moment, then nodded vigorously, deeply convinced.
He wiped the cold sweat from his palms, bowed and said to Zhang Ximeng: "Prime Minister Zhang, I have passed the imperial examination of the Yuan Dynasty. I know exactly what the atmosphere of the Yuan Dynasty's officialdom is like. The superiors are extravagant and the inferiors are greedy. They collude with each other and compare their friends with each other.
, There is absolutely no way for a good minister, and a good minister can survive...Now that the superiors have great talents, and Prime Minister Zhang enforces the law impartially, you are a perfect match, and those of us working below can feel at ease."
What Lao Wang said is actually quite interesting. When he was an official in the Yuan Dynasty, he was not clear about all kinds of corrupt practices. The Yuan Dynasty was so bad that no one could do anything about it.
Now under Lao Zhu, everyone knows Zhu Yuanzhang's efforts to govern, but this is not the most terrifying thing.
Because Zhu Yuanzhang can only kill people, Zhang Ximeng can kill people!
Only by working together can they control the people below.
Take the case at hand as an example. If Zhang Ximeng had not intervened, Lao Zhu would have at most said that he would rather let Hu Dahai rebel than corrupt the law.
Then he killed Hu Sanshe, took his head, and warned his subordinates.
That basically ends here.
Although this deterrent effect is already quite terrifying, after all, it still does not touch the real big fish behind. If the case is not clearly investigated, there will be no way to give an explanation to the world, and there will be endless troubles in the future.
In the original history, Zhu Yuanzhang lived in constant killing. He couldn't figure out why these corrupt officials went on and on without fear of death... Since you don't even care about your life, are we still afraid of killing people?
?
Come on! Come on!
Kill a man whose head will roll, kill a man whose blood will flow like a river!
For Lao Zhu, it seems that there is only so much he can do.
However, with Zhang Ximeng's involvement, the situation was completely different.
The first was Wang Guangyang, who checked all the granaries in Dingyuan and personally checked the numbers. Zhang Ximeng also went to check the military villages.
The reason is simple. No matter how much wine is made, food is indispensable.
On the private side, due to the equal distribution of land, ordinary people can make their own decisions. After a few good years, everyone must be working hard to save food, so apart from paying land taxes, there is definitely not much that can be sold on the market.
Therefore, in addition to local warehouses, grain was stored in military camps.
This also starts from the source.
After Zhang Ximeng's preliminary investigation, it was found that the food gap in the military camp was about 50,000 dan. Hu Sanshe was also honest. According to his confession, he produced 38,000 dan!
Finally, the big ones are matched up, and the rest can be regarded as daily wear and tear, or some smaller mice have emerged.
But I turned my attention to the warehouse in Dingyuan County. After some inspection, I found that there was a gap of 120,000 shi!
You must know that the two taxes Dingyuan pays in summer and autumn a year add up to only 180,000 shi!
In addition, you can also pay taxes and be exempted from military service. Taking everything into account, Dingyuan can have 200,000 shi of taxes and grains a year, which is considered good.
Snap!
Lao Zhu hammered the table so hard that the teapot trembled.
"Okay! In a major grain-producing county, most of the harvest of the year has been lost! This is not a rat, this is a bunch of gluttons!" Lao Zhu was furious.
"Besides Hu Sanshe, how many other people are involved in the illegal drinking?"
Zhang Ximeng said: "According to the current thorough investigation, first of all, it is the officials in charge of the treasury, and there are also several wealthy households in Dingyuan. Then there are two trading houses in Chuzhou... The county magistrate Wang Kai is also involved. In his home,
Three hundred taels of red gold were found!"
"Kill! Kill! Take off the skin of this beast!"
Zhu Yuanzhang was extremely angry. Wang Kai was appointed county magistrate because he was a fellow countryman and had followed him for a long time. As a result, the more shame he gave Wang Kai, the more shameless he became!
Three hundred taels of gold is enough to peel off ten layers of your skin!
"My lord, do you think we should be punished in Dingyuan Ming Zhengdian, or should we go back to Jinling and make further calculations?"
Lao Zhu was slightly startled, "Mr. Zhang wants us to go back to Jinling?"
Zhang Ximeng grinned and said, "My lord, this case is very involved. Give me some more time to investigate more clearly, and then deal with it after my lord returns to Jinling?"
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. He wanted to kill someone immediately, but since it was such a big case, it would be easier for them to kill him directly.
"We should go back to Jinling, tell everyone, and deal with these beasts in a fair and dignified manner!"
Zhang Ximeng smiled helplessly. It was obvious that Zhu Yuanzhang did not understand what he meant. Is there a need to be so anxious about this case? Is there really no need to think about it?
Lao Zhu thought for a while and understood what Zhang Ximeng meant. He suddenly smiled and said, "Bring a pen and paper over here."
Zhang Ximeng handed the pen and paper to Lao Zhu. Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a while, then picked up the pen and wrote a letter to Hu Dahai.
"Your son stole 38,000 shi of grain, secretly brewed wine, and violated our military orders. We believe that military law is more important than human kindness, so we want to kill your son... Some people say that you will rebel, but we don't believe it... When you
You came to seek refuge with us because you couldn't bear the people of Hezhou being ruined by Sun Deya. I believe you understand the general situation and take the overall situation into consideration. But Hu Sanshe is your biological son after all. You can decide for yourself what to do!"
After Zhu Yuanzhang finished writing, he smiled at Zhang Ximeng and said, "Mr. Fanlao immediately sent someone to deliver it to Hu Dahai. We must let Hu Dahai know before the trial of this case begins! After all, he is his son, and we can't go behind his back to become his father."
.”
Zhang Ximeng naturally knows what Lao Zhu is thinking, but is it a bit too much to do this?
"Lord, do you really need to slow down or be more generous?"
"No!" Zhu Yuanzhang said firmly: "Sir, we know what you are thinking. Killing Hu Sanshe is a decree, and sending a letter to Hu Dahai is because we think of him for having made so many contributions... We did this.
, He has a clear conscience. If Hu Dahai can do things honestly, we will continue to use him sincerely. If he hates us, he will not be merciful, and we have a clear conscience. The rest is up to Hu Dahai."
Zhang Ximeng held the letter, thought over and over again, and nodded, this is Zhu Yuanzhang!
"My lord, Xu Da is in charge of the Southern Expedition. If something like this happens, he should be informed."
Zhu Yuanzhang took a breath and finally nodded heavily, "Then let Mr. write a letter for us."
Zhang Ximeng agreed, and just like that, the two letters were quickly sent across the Yangtze River and delivered to the hands of Hu Dahai and Xu Da respectively.
Hu Dahai opened the letter and read it for a full quarter of an hour. The expression on his face changed again and again, and finally he just gritted his teeth and said: "Well done! There is a right way to kill a traitor!"
Then Hu Dahai paced the ground for a long time and said angrily to his men: "Send my general's order to attack the city tomorrow!"