Aunt Zhao and Grandma Zhao looked at Zhao Sui, who was embarrassed by the praise, with smiles and felt proud in their hearts.
But there was a look of disgust on his face: "Hey, he is a low-ranking official, but he deserves your praise."
Yang then said: "No matter how he is a miscellaneous official, he is also in the government office. In the eyes of us fishermen, he is an official. He is in charge of us."
After saying that, he looked at Zhao Sui with envy.
Zhao Sui straightened his back.
Huo Xi listened and inquired around. At this time, he already knew what the situation was like at the riverside where Zhao Sui was.
Although there is only one river officer of the ninth rank, plus one official of no rank, and four or five servants, he is in charge of hundreds or even thousands of fishing households.
There is only one high-ranking official, which does not mean that their rivers are poor. It is because almost all rivers are arranged in this way.
Their river station is close to the capital, and they are assigned two office officials. Most of the other river stations only have one office official.
The official system of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Hebo Office is set up according to the amount of fish tax collected every year.
Those with a classroom meter of 300 to 1,000 dan will have one official; those with a classroom of 1,000 to 5,000 dan will have two officers; those with a classroom of 5,000 to 10,000 dan will have three officers.
However, in this dynasty, there were almost no people who could collect 5,000 to 10,000 dan from Hebo.
Therefore, most Hebo offices have two officials, and more often one official.
The Hebo Office has few officials and personnel, but there is a saying that goes well: "Although Hebo is humble and scattered, he is as leisurely as an immortal."
Even if a Hebo official was only from the ninth rank, he still had to go through the imperial examination. Zhao Sui was a scholar and just one of several servants. It was not easy to squeeze out another official from the Hebo office for the top position.
Unless the other party has made a big mistake, embezzling fishermen's taxes or something, or Zhao Suili has made great achievements, or passed the imperial examination and entered the official position, it will be very difficult to get a position.
But even though he was a miscellaneous official, he had considerable power. Moreover, he could earn a monthly salary by eating the royal grain seriously, and the harvest would be guaranteed during droughts and floods. He was free and dignified.
No wonder Yang is envious, Zhao's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law stand straight in the village.
This time Zhao Suihui was at home, firstly for the autumn harvest, and secondly to deliver news to his family.
Huo Xi was shocked by the news and couldn't recover.
"Is this true? Requisitioning ships to transport grain from our fishermen?"
Huo Xi was confused. She was still waiting to sell cloth. Why did she have to requisition the ships? How long would it take? Was it forced or voluntary?
Yang was also stunned: "In previous years, didn't farmers transport tax grains to the nearest county offices? Why would they requisition ships from us? Where should the grains be transported?"
When Zhao's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law saw that Huo Xi and Yang had received the news, they lost their minds and hurriedly comforted them: "Don't worry, don't worry, we will requisition the boats from you fishermen and we will compensate you. Sui'er, please talk to your Aunt Huo."
Just say it."
Zhao casually told them about the situation of the requisitioned boats in the river.
When the original Taizu established the dynasty and made Jinling the capital, there was no need to transfer grain from the south to the north. Even if military grain was to be shipped to the north, there was no need to go to war and let the farmers transport grain north.
However, the new emperor was originally granted the title of King of Yan and was entrusted with the land of Yan. His base was in the north, and hundreds of thousands of troops were still stationed at the northern gate. He then restarted the five major granaries of the previous dynasty: Huai'an, Xuzhou, Linqing, Dezhou, and Tianjin.
Farmers are required to transport grain to the nearest county to pay taxes, and ships are mobilized to transport grain to these five granaries. If there is need in the north, grain is collected from these five granaries or granaries in various places and transported north to Tongzhou Granary.
Since the founding of the dynasty by Emperor Taizu, grain taxes have been levied on farmers. They do not collect gold or silver, only grain.
Moreover, farmers need to hand in the grain themselves and bear the expenses and losses along the way. During the grain requisition, the local grain chiefs will supervise the local folks to hand over the grain and escort it.
This time, the counties near the capital were responsible for transporting part of the new grain to the Huai'an warehouse.
Vessel recruitment is carried out by the river station.
"The amount of grain transported this time is huge. Except for the ships that are really unavailable, all the ships are being requisitioned."
Huo Xi and Yang were stunned.
Her family's floating grocery store is getting on the right track day by day, and she is still waiting to save more money to rent a house ashore before winter comes. Before she can save much money, her own boat is requisitioned?
I don't know how long it will take to go north to Huai'an. What will Nian'er do? Yang's mouth opens and closes, not knowing what to say, and she is extremely anxious.
Yang Fu looked at this and that, his brows burning with anxiety. He turned to look at Huo Xi.
Huo Xi frowned and looked at Zhao Sui: "Brother Zhao Sui, when will we be recruited? How long will it take on the road? How did the Hebo Station arrange for us?"
Zhao Sui glanced at Yang, who was dumbfounded, and then looked at Huo Xi. He felt deeply in his heart that this child was really smart. Before her mother came back to her senses, she had already asked the key question.
Then he said in a warm voice: "It's coming soon. Collection orders have been issued to all villages. The farmers will transport the grain to the county offices immediately. They will not wait for all the tax grain to be returned to the warehouse. They will pay the tax and transport it by ship at the same time."
Go to Huai'an warehouse for storage."
It won't be a few days.
Zhao Sui saw that she understood, and then said: "The waterway from Jiangning to Huai'an is about four hundred miles. When going with the current, it is estimated that it can be reached in two days. As for how to arrange the river anchorage, it depends on the size of the ship and the amount of food it can carry.
Based on the carrying capacity, when the fishery tax is collected at the end of the year, it will be reduced accordingly.”
Huo Xi glanced at him after hearing this.
Originally, she thought that for the recruitment of ships, there would be some corresponding funds, how much money would be paid for a ship, etc. This was considered a business trip, right? No travel expenses were allowed when traveling on business?
But now that I hear it, I guess I don’t have to think about it. Will the fishery tax be reduced at the end of the year? By how much, it seems that there is no standard yet.
It seems that the fishermen have to bear the cost of casting along the way.
Not only will fishing be impossible, not to mention missing work, you will also have to pay for business trips yourself?
Hiss! Toothache.
Fortunately, her family still has money and food stored in it. For those fishermen who earn money every day and fish for daily necessities, it will probably be a big burden.
Farmers pay taxes and have to transport the grain to the destination by themselves. They also bear the freight and losses, and are exploited by the petty officials. I originally thought that the fishermen did not have such troubles, but well, isn't this trouble coming?
Huo Xi turned around and looked at Nian'er, who was being held obediently by Yang and was listening to the adults talking without crying or fussing. She felt a little distressed.
Do you want Nian'er to follow them north and wander on the water for several days?
She leaned over and took his little hand, and saw that he smiled at her lively and interacted with her, which made her even more fond of her.
Yang also touched Nian'er's little face distressedly. I don't know what will happen along the way. The boat will be filled with a lot of food. Can Nian'er eat well and sleep well?
Everyone followed the gazes of her mother and daughter and looked at Huo Nian.
Grandma Zhao took Nian'er over with distress: "Oh, our Nian'er is still so young, how can we be squeezed together with a pile of grain? What should we do?"
Zhao Qianshi also looked at her mother-in-law eagerly, teasing the lively and cute Huo Nian, and wanted to hug her. She also looked at Huo Nian with a worried look on her face.
Yang looked at Zhao Sui and said with some difficulty: "Can we pay the silver to offset the conscription?"