Naturally, such a large amount of salt is not only supplied by Beihai County. After the salt was delivered in the first quarter, the people who went out to deliver salt brought back a large amount of copper coins.
Because gold and silver occupy less space and are of high value, yamen in various places do not need to use it to make settlements. Naturally, good things must be on the edge of the knife.
Especially for a valuable commodity like salt, when they went to the dock to transport salt, they would just pull carts and carts of copper coins there.
So the official ship brought back two shiploads of copper coins, but there was another official ship that had not returned. They were going to Chaozhou area, which was further away, and they were not sure when they would come back.
As soon as the ship entered the port, Fang County Cheng immediately went to Bai Shan and said, "Sir, the ship is back."
Bai Shan, who was being surrounded by people asking for money, heard this and hurriedly said to everyone: "Don't worry, everyone. This county also knows that you are anxious. Originally, I wanted to ask people to go back to the county government office to withdraw money, but the county government office is away from Long."
The pond is not close, and it will take two days to go there and back. Fortunately, the official ship is back now, and there is money on it."
He said: "If you can trust me, just wait here and I will settle the labor and material costs for you after I finish the calculation. If you can't trust me..."
He paused and then said: "Why can't you trust this county? A monk who can run away cannot run away from the temple. The one who owes you money is the Beihai County Government. I can run away, but can the Beihai County Government still run away?"
The foremen and businessmen felt a knot in their hearts when they heard this, and couldn't help muttering: "Then we can't occupy the Beihai County Yamen, right? Isn't that a rebellion?"
Bai Shan heard it and said silently: "There are still so many shops on the dock. Beihai County Government really doesn't have money to give you, so you just occupy one or two of the shops built during this period. It won't be enough to pay off the debt."
?”
The foreman and merchants were delighted and asked hurriedly: "Master Bai, can I use my shop to pay off the debt?"
"No," Bai Shan said angrily, "It's not like I can't come up with the money. I already agreed that after the shop is built, all the wages will be settled within half a month after my acceptance."
He said: "I just inspected it yesterday, and today you are surrounding me as if you were afraid that I would run away. The county has not breached the contract, so how can we say we can repay the debt?"
Everyone immediately stopped talking.
Bai Shan turned around expressionlessly and went to the dock with Fang Xian Cheng.
As soon as the two left, the debtors gathered together and said, "I'm just saying that Mr. Bai is not like a person without money. You are too impatient. Now, don't you offend someone?"
"Don't be fooled by hindsight, you are the one making the biggest fuss today. Didn't you say that Magistrate Bai is rich, doesn't it mean that Beihai County is rich? You also said that public is public and private is private. Magistrate Bai can't take his own money.
Come out and pay the county government’s debts.”
"That's right, Beihai County is still poor as you said."
"Bah, who said in the first place that Beihai County had spent all the money and that there was no penny left in the accounts?"
While they were passing the blame to each other, Bai Shan and Fang Xiancheng walked quickly to the dock. They walked directly to the front and waited for the boat to slowly enter the berth and dock on the shore.
Bai Shan looked at the ship that was slowly stopping and said expressionlessly: "Let's check, where did their news come from?"
In fact, their information was correct. Beihai County Government was indeed out of money, and there was not a penny left in its accounts.
If the wages and food for the docks, saltworks and Guantianzhuangzi were not allocated in advance, the county government would have to pay on credit next month.
Bai Shan has found a good partner.
He and Zhou Man first tried to find a way to borrow some from their homes to the county government, and if they didn't have enough, they would ask Yin He and Bai Erlang to borrow it...
But the construction of shops and roads at Longchi Wharf cost too much, and even if they filled it all with the money they brought, it might not be enough.
Even though he looks so confident on the surface, he is actually very guilty inside.
Naturally, Fang Xiancheng also knew about the situation of the county government. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "I'll check it out when I get back."
He paused and then said: "There is no news at the county government yet. The news should have spread here in Longchi. There are few people here, so it is not difficult to check."
Bai Shan nodded.
Fang Xian Cheng actually already had a suspect. He lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think it could be the Song family?"
Bai Shan: "I don't make guesses. I speak based on evidence. If it is, it is, and if it isn't, it is not."
He paused and then said: "If it is really the Song family, this county will not tolerate it this time."
Fangxian Cheng knew what he was saying.
Bai Shan didn't want to make things happen. Although the Song family was domineering, he had been operating in Beihai County for many years and had both merit and hard work. He had already torn a piece of flesh from the other party and obtained enough benefits, so he did not
The two sides continue to take action, and the two sides have maintained a superficial peace since last summer.
Even when the county government and Qingzhou City have any activities, Bai Shan likes to bring the Song family with him. If there is any benefit, such as the pavement construction of Longchi Wharf, he will still call them.
He feels that the two parties have gotten along well this year. If they can still hinder him behind his back, it means that reconciliation between them cannot be achieved.
Since there can't be reconciliation... Bai Shan pinched his fingers, then some old accounts have to be dug out and settled together with the new ones.
The two of them said a few confidential words before the coolies came up. As soon as the boat approached, the people on the boat put up the planks of the boat, and the coolies ran up to take the orders noisily.
However, they did not dare to get very close and only dared to stand ten steps behind.
Liu Canjun stepped off the boat, his eyes lit up when he saw Bai Shanshi, and he immediately stepped forward, "Master Bai——"
He laughed loudly and said: "Fortunately, everything has been delivered to the place, and everything you asked for has been shipped back."
He handed a stack of accounts to Bai Shan and said with a smile: "Here, these are recorded according to the accounts you made."
Bai Shan flipped through the pages and saw that there were only numbers on it, not even a total at the end. He could only flip through the pages page by page, doing quick mental calculations. He breathed a sigh of relief when he got the total, which was the same as his estimate.
The money is inseparable.
This money is enough to cover Beihai County's expenses for a period of time.
Bai Shan laughed, closed the account and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Liu joined the army. I'll have someone go up and unload the goods."
He turned sideways and looked at the coolie behind him.
Fangxian Cheng went up to order people, and the people he called lined up one by one. The officials who followed Fangxian Cheng also came up to organize.
These people are not long-term workers on the dock, but coolies who have gathered from various villages since the dock was built. They carry things on the dock, carry things to the shops in Longchi, clean, etc.
Many shops in Longchi are newly opened and require a lot of work, including moving tables and chairs and setting up stoves, so they can make a lot of money.
Although they are all hard work, they make more money than farming and doing part-time work in the village.
And with so many coolies working here, it costs money to eat, drink, sleep, and live, which makes Longchi even more popular.