Because there is no court meeting in Chang'an, officials go to court a quarter of an hour later than in the Southern Tang Dynasty. In the Southern Tang Dynasty, they went to court at a quarter past Mao hour, which is half past six, while in Chang'an they went to court at Mao hour, and they went to court at seven o'clock on time. They went to court and went to work on time.
It's the same thing. You're not allowed to be late. If you have something to do at home, you can ask for leave in advance, or explain the situation to your boss later.
The carriage Guo Song rode usually stopped in front of the official residence at Mao hour. He got off directly and walked into the official residence.
Although his official office is called a house, it is actually a group of buildings. His subordinates are engaged in various military affairs and there are more than a hundred staff members who handle the huge and complicated military and political affairs of the Tang and Jin Dynasties. Although one of them has been divided by the Counselor Building.
Most of them, but the various important matters transferred from Baihu Hall every day are still very complicated.
Guo Song's official room was divided into left and right outer rooms and inner rooms. After Guo Song walked into the official room, the two halls on the left and right were two outer rooms, each with more than 40 people. One was in charge of the army and the other was in charge of administration. When he walked into the large courtyard in the middle hall,
There are still two halls on the left and right, with the library on the left and the inner room on the right. The number of military personnel in the inner room is relatively small, only a dozen people. They mainly deal with confidential military and political affairs.
Passing through the middle courtyard is the inner courtyard, which is actually a small garden surrounded by five or six rooms. This is Guo Song's official residence, which contains the main hall, meeting hall, rest room, map room, etc.
Guo Song walked into the official hall and sat down in front of the large and heavy desk. He was sitting on a large and comfortable official chair, also called a brocade chair. It had been popular all over the world since the Hexi period and was used by almost all officials.
Everyone sits on brocade chairs, even in the study rooms of wealthy families. Whether in the home or in restaurants outside, high-leg seating has gradually become the mainstream.
At present, there are three people in Guo Song's record office who have joined the army. The first is Zhang Fengyi, who is now a counselor in the Counselor Building. The second is Du Siye, who is now the governor of Shang and has gone to the local government to train.
Then there are Wen Miao and Lu Lun. Last month, another person was added, Wei Lun, who was transferred from Baihu Hall. Currently, these three are all children of famous families and have outstanding talents. Wei Lun has experience in local government and has extraordinary courage.
Send a thousand tank ships from Chenliu County to Taiyuan.
As soon as Guo Song sat down, the tea boy brought him hot tea. Wen Miao put a stack of documents on the table. The top of the documents was a prepared catalog and summary. Guo Song could choose from them based on his own concerns.
Documents of interest.
"Is the plan for the imperial examination well prepared?" Guo Song asked.
"Your Majesty, the organization has not been completed yet. I have done it yesterday. The main task is to confirm the inns, temples and other accommodations on the spot. Everyone is running out, and there are many details that need to be confirmed one by one, so it is not so fast.
"
This kind of pragmatic style is what Guo Song has always advocated. It is better to be slower, but also to be practical, and not to work behind closed doors and think about plans.
Guo Song nodded, "Just tell them to hurry up. There is no need to rush. In addition, Puzhou Salt Pond needs to increase production. This matter cannot be delayed. I ask the Counselor Hall to go all out. I will see results next month."
Puzhou is today's Yuncheng area. There are also several large salt lakes there. They used to be military salt ponds and were used exclusively by the army. The army was responsible for mining and drying them.
However, due to the remote location of the salt pond in Yanzhou, it was still very inconvenient and the production could not increase. In addition, the east brine pond in Fengxian County was facing depletion, so Guo Song made the decision to divide the three major salt lakes in Puzhou.
Second, two salt lakes were allocated to the Salt and Iron Administration, and the other salt lake was reserved for military use.
"Remember your humble position, let's make arrangements now."
At this time, Guo Song suddenly remembered something and asked: "Is your father still in Chang'an?"
Wen Miao's father Wen Ji has also returned from Chengdu, and the couple are currently living in his son's home.
Wen Miao quickly said: "My father is still in Chang'an and may return to Taiyuan in a few days to worship his ancestors."
"It's time to worship ancestors in the New Year! It's only October now, so it's a little too early to worship ancestors." Guo Song said with a smile.
Wen Miao scratched his head, "Actually, he is either worshiping the ancestors or arranging various preparations for the ancestor worship. After all, he is the head of the family and cannot remain indifferent."
Guo Song nodded, "Bring him to see me tomorrow morning. I want to talk to him."
"I took a humble job and went home and told my father."
Wen Miao resigned, and Guo Song took the documents and began to review them carefully.
.........
Xi'anmen Street has become a popular spot for Internet celebrities in the Tang Dynasty. Even Wen Ji came here for the third time. The first time was when he and his old wife took a night tour of Xi'anmen Street after dinner. Of course, this was also because of the distance between his son's official residence and his wife.
It's very close here. My son Wen Miao is a fifth-grade Zhongsan doctor. He has an official residence with three acres of land in Andingfang, close to the entrance of Xi'anmen Street.
Although the official residence of the sixth-rank official also has three acres of land, it is not an independent official residence, but a row of official buildings.
Today Wen Ji accompanied Pei Chen to visit the store. Pei Chen's store was naturally transferred to him by Xue Xun. As a famous family in the world, the Pei family needs to run a family business in Chang'an and even the most prosperous place in the world. This is not only for
Making money is a symbol, a sense of existence in the mainstream of society.
The Wen family also has a shop, but it is located on West 2nd Road. His son Wen Miao got a quota and transferred it to the Wen family. Speaking of which, the Pei family also has a similar shop, located on East 3rd Road. It is Pei Xin's quota, but the Pei family is
The world's aristocratic family, what they want is a shop along the river to display Wenxi Pei's brand.
The location of the shop along the river that Pei Chen transferred from Xue Xun is very good, relatively close to the south. Since Xi'anmen Street is ten miles long, and it takes twenty miles to walk around it, most people cannot walk that far, and most of them are concentrated in the southern area.
A recognized good location must meet two conditions. First, it is located in the southern area, preferably in the middle of the south. Second, it is located along the river, either east or west.
This section of land in Pei Chen meets these two conditions and is a prime location. Of course, the best location is close to the New Gwanghwamun Plaza. Xue Xun also has a store located southeast of the New Gwanghwamun Gate, with the New Gwanghwamun Gate on the side.
Put up a big sign that can be seen by everyone in the square. It is a landmark and is recognized as the best-located store. It is currently rented by Taibai Restaurant with an annual rent of 5,000 guan.
Pei Chen opened the door with the key. There was a large open space inside, surrounded by high walls. Wen Ji looked around and said in surprise: "Brother Pei, why are there no houses built here? I don't think there are any other places for rent."
A two-story simple house was also built, but this is actually an open space?"
Pei Chen smiled slightly and said: "This is called a big shop. It is specially built for big shops, so it is all open space. The kind of shop Xiandi mentioned is a unified shop, which is eight-divided land, so it has two floors."
"I see, there don't seem to be many large plots of land like this!"
"It's true that there are not many shops. There are a total of 1,200 shops. There are less than 40 shops in Dapu land. Almost 40% of it is at the corner of Xisan Road, which is used for brothels. There are only 40 shops in Dapu land along the river.
Twenty yuan, thanks to Xiaotong's generosity, I am extremely lucky to get this land."
Hearing that the land was transferred from Xue Xun, Wen Ji smiled. He originally wanted to ask about the price, but now he stopped asking.
The two of them immediately came to the Mingzhu Restaurant not far away for lunch. They really didn't know that this restaurant was owned by Sister Guo Song. It was still an hour before the flower boat parade. It was still early and there were not many customers in the restaurant.
He found a seat by the window on the second floor, ordered a bottle of authentic Meishou wine, and ordered a few side dishes to go with the wine.
Today, Pei Chen invited Wen Ji to see the shop together. The real purpose was to get a feel for the Wang family. Among the five major families in Hedong, Pei, Wang, Xue, Wen, and Wu, the ones who can really compete for the position of Prime Minister are Pei and Wang.
Shi.
The Wang family and the Wen family have a close relationship, and the relationship between the Pei family and the Wen family is also good. Pei Chen believes that Wen Ji knows the situation of the Wang family very well.
Pei Chen filled a glass of wine for him and asked with a smile: "It's a coincidence that Brother Xian returned to Chang'an at the right time! It happened to be a vacant phase, and everyone wondered if Brother Xian had come back because of the smell?"
"nonsense!"
Wen Ji's face sank and he said: "I didn't know about this at all before. I only found out a few days ago. Everyone was making fun of Xue Changshou's son in his later years. I didn't know there was such a thing."
"I was just kidding. Xue Changshou resigned after you returned to Chang'an. Of course my resignation from Southern Tang had everything to do with it, but why did you think of resigning from Southern Tang?" Pei Chen asked curiously.
Wen Ji sighed, "It's not because I offended the eunuchs. I wrote to the Queen Mother three times asking for tax reductions. The taxes are so heavy that the people of Bashu are struggling to make a living. A bushel of salt is sold for 1,300 yuan, and it is produced by Bashu itself."
Well salt, tea and wine tax, shelf tax, household tax, commercial tax, especially commercial tax. The first tax is levied when entering Bashu from other places, the second tax is levied when entering Chengdu, and then commercial tax is levied on shops. In fact,
That's three taxes.
But the most evil thing is the salt tax. The well salt mines are sold to salt dealers for 310 cents per dou. Why does it become 1,300 cents per dou in the hands of the people? Who are these salt merchants? I wrote to the Queen Mother three times
, requiring the government to set up a special salt store to directly bypass the salt merchants and sell it to the people for three hundred and ten cents."
Pei Chen smiled and said: "This suggestion will offend people!"
"I offended someone, I offended the eunuch party severely. In fact, I know that all the salt merchants, big and small, are members of the eunuch party. I just hate them for exploiting the people. The result was a transfer order, and I was transferred to the prefect of Yunnan. I had no choice but to resign and return to my hometown to retire.
.”
"It's a wise move for me, my dear brother, to come back. I will definitely be put to good use by His Highness King Jin."
Wen Ji sighed, "It doesn't matter whether I am an official or not. I just hope that local governments can treat the people well and that various government orders will take the people's sufferings into consideration."
Pei Chen held the wine glass and pondered for a moment: "It is said that the new prime minister may be selected from officials from Hedong this time. Does your son know?"