Chapter 322 Taoist Wei Zheng
Chapter 322 Taoist Wei Zheng
The next morning, Xiao Xia summoned all officials and announced that Liu Huan had committed suicide out of fear of punishment. He would temporarily serve as Sima and control the financial power.
Xiao Xia asked Zhou Mo to continue investigating Liu Huan's corruption and report to the court after finding out the truth.
Zhou Mo also understood what Xiao Xia meant. Investigating the case was just an excuse. He didn't want to report to the court at all and control the financial power himself.
However, this is also in line with Zhou Mo's interests. Once the new manager directly controls the financial power, he will release the administrative power and he will also be a beneficiary.
Then the investigation of this case will take an indefinitely long time and can be delayed as long as possible.
In fact, Xiao Xia did not have the energy to be a Sima. He only held the position in name, but in reality he gave the financial power to his aide Liu Wenjing, who was the one who truly controlled the financial power.
This is the role of staff. When a chief officer holds many positions concurrently, staff will step up and the real power is in the hands of staff.
In the afternoon, Liu Wenjing handed a property list to Xiao Xia, and Xiao Xia finally saw the assets of the Liangzhou General's Mansion.
There were 250,000 dan of grain, 170,000 strings of money, 300,000 dan of black beans and fodder, more than 4,000 war horses, 80,000 mules and donkeys, 200,000 sheep, 3,500 carts, 1,200 ships, 13,000 hectares of military land, 460 houses of various types scattered throughout the country, more than 2,000 civilian houses, as well as warehouses, military camps, docks, etc.
In addition, there are countless supplies in the warehouse, including weapons, armor, bows and crossbows, arrows, shields, gongs and drums, tents, flags, cloth, pig iron, copper ingots, wood, medicinal materials, etc.
So it is a property inventory rather than an inventory, because there are so many materials of all kinds, with salt alone weighing more than 100,000 kilograms.
What Xiao Xia was concerned about was taxes. He had to pay 18,000 strings of cash in salary to recruit soldiers every month. This was an unshakable payment. The copper coins in the warehouse were only enough to support ten months, which was too little.
He frowned and asked, "Is the 170,000 strings of cash surplus money, or has this year's money already been allocated?"
"Reporting to the steward, this year's money has just been allocated."
Xiao Xia felt a headache. The money had already been transferred. He thought for a moment and asked, "Is the money and grain for the court still in the transit warehouse?"
"Still there!"
"how many?"
"About 400,000 guan (about 100,000 guan in cash) and 600,000 dan (100,000 dan) of grain."
Xiao Xia immediately said: "Take them all down."
Liu Wenjing was startled, "Manager, is this okay?"
"I have reached an agreement with the Crown Prince. The spoils of our attack on the Han King's manor were taken away by Ancheng King Yang Yun. The Crown Prince promised to give us last year's taxes from the three counties of Liangzhou as compensation for our losses. In addition, he also promised that the military salaries of 6,000 people would be borne by the General Administration Office. Now we need him to fulfill his promise. What's wrong with that?"
Liu Wenjing thought for a moment and said, "It is not legal for us to withhold the taxes. It is difficult for the prince to convince the court at present. We can delay the transfer of taxes as much as possible. I suggest that the 6,000 troops be transferred to the General Administration Office to recruit soldiers. At least in name, they should belong to the General Administration Office, so that we have an excuse.
Then the general manager will submit an application to the Ministry of War to recruit soldiers, and then submit an application to the court for additional military salaries. This will buy at least two or three months of time. We can then use the excuse of delaying the transfer of taxes until the crown prince ascends the throne, and then things will be easier.”
Xiao Xia nodded, "This is a good idea. You write the application for recruiting soldiers and the application for additional military pay, I will sign and submit it to the Ministry of War, and then I will write a letter to the prince."
Liu Wenjing added: "There is one more thing. The current chief steward has too few staff. Both the chief steward's office and the recruiting camp need clerks. There is a shortage of 30 people. I suggest recruiting another group of staff."
This was also a problem that needed to be solved, and Xiao Xia agreed immediately.
Liu Wenjing left in a hurry. Xiao Xia paced back and forth in the official room. Killing Liu Huan only ensured that he got the financial power, but he could not fully control the army. The 20,000 troops were too scattered, and the army had to be concentrated.
In history, Yang Liang rebelled just after the emperor passed away. Why did he rebel? In fact, it was because he was being stripped of his power.
Now the prince is sending all the opposition forces to the local areas in order to ascend the throne smoothly. Once he successfully ascends the throne, he will inevitably carry out the reduction of the power of the princes. Yang Jun, the King of Qin, and Yang Liang, the King of Han, will be the first to bear the brunt. He still has value to be used, so he and his father will put the reduction of the power of the princes in the next step.
At present, we need to strengthen intelligence and keep track of the movements of Chang'an and Taiyuan at all times.
However, the most urgent task now is to concentrate the troops and keep them firmly under our control.
Of course there is a way, just like the means used by emperors to centralize power, such as moving the capital.
Xiao Xia was also considering relocating the General Administration's Office, moving the General Administration to Songcheng, and moving all the troops there in the name of training.
Of course, his reasons were sufficient. He was also the governor of Liang County, so of course he had to be stationed in Songcheng County.
When the general manager posted the notice to recruit staff, it immediately caused a sensation in Chenliu County. There was a ten-day registration period, and many people in Chenliu County notified their relatives in various places.
There is a Taoist temple in the east of Chenliu County, called Sanqing Temple, with more than 50 Taoist priests, but there are only more than 30 Taoist priests in the temple. The others are wandering Taoist priests who come here to practice. Sanqing Temple is also different from others. It has tens of thousands of volumes of books, which were collected by the former master for decades. After the master passed away, the more than 10,000 volumes of books became the temple's property, attracting many people to come here to read.
In the afternoon, the temple master Wang Xuanqing hurried to the guest room, knocked on one of the doors and shouted, "Junior Brother Wei!"
After a while, the door opened, and in the room was a young Taoist priest about 27 or 28 years old. He had a square face, thick eyebrows, and narrow eyes, which were bright and lively.
"Master, what's the matter?"
"Brother Wei, haven't you always been looking for something to do? Now there is an opportunity."
"Master, please come in and speak!"
The young Taoist priest was named Wei Zheng. He was from Quyang County, Julu Prefecture. He grew up in a poor family, but he loved reading. Later, his family became so impoverished that he had no hope of getting married, so he had to become a Taoist priest.
Although he became a Taoist priest, he always had great ambitions. He used his identity to travel around the world, looking for opportunities to display his talents.
Fellow Taoists from all over the country introduced him to many job opportunities, but either being an accountant for a wealthy businessman or teaching the children of wealthy families were not the careers he wanted.
The temple master Wang Xuanqing also knew that Wei Zheng was extremely talented and had excellent calligraphy skills, so he had always been keeping an eye out for opportunities for him.
He walked into the room and said with a smile, "This morning, the General Manager's Office posted a notice that the General Manager was recruiting staff and needed dozens of people. I thought it was a good fit for you, Junior Brother, so I came here to tell you."
Wei Zheng was also quite excited and asked quickly, "Is it the new chief steward Xiao?"
"Exactly! He is the grandson of the emperor, a prince, very young. It is said that he has become a third-rank steward before he was twenty years old. If you can become his staff, you will definitely have a bright future. This is an opportunity for me, you must seize it."
"How to sign up, do you know, Senior Brother?"
"Go directly to the General Administration Office to register. The notice says that only talent is considered, not family background."
Wei Zheng was moved. He had been rejected repeatedly because he came from a poor family and had no one to recommend him. Others had to be from wealthy families with good backgrounds, and children from poor families had no chance at all. Now he finally had an opportunity that didn't depend on family background.
"Okay, I'll go check it out tomorrow morning."
The next morning, Wei Zheng came to the main gate of the General Manager's Mansion wearing a half-worn Taoist robe and holding a whisk. He bowed to the gatekeeper and said, "Wulian Tianzun, I am here to apply for the position of the General Manager's staff!"
The soldier pointed to the notice on the wall next to him and said, "Master, take a look at that!"
Wei Zheng walked over to take a closer look. It was a notice for recruiting staff members. At the bottom, there was a line of words added, "Registration is at the Talent Recruitment Hall across the street!"
Wei Zheng turned around and saw a long line in front of a big door diagonally opposite.
He was about to line up when Liu Wenjing came out of the government office. Seeing Wei Zheng, he asked with a smile, "Is this Taoist priest here to apply as well?"
Wei Zheng nodded, "Exactly!"
"It seems that the Taoist priest has not yet finished his earthly ties."
"If you are poor, you should take care of yourself. If you are rich, you should benefit the world. I became a monk just to cultivate myself. But if I don't seize the opportunity, how can I become rich and how can I benefit the world?"
Liu Wenjing laughed and said, "That makes sense. Let's go sign up!"
Just at this moment, a group of cavalrymen escorted Xiao Xia to the government office. Liu Wenjing stepped forward and saluted, "Is the chief steward here?"
Xiao Xia nodded and asked, "Are the people in the long queue over there here signing up for the staff exam?"
"Exactly. It started yesterday afternoon. I estimate that hundreds of people will sign up today."
“Broaden the scope a little bit, it doesn’t necessarily have to be local people.”
When Xiao Xia said this, he saw Wei Zheng. Xiao Xia had a special liking for Taoist priests, so he asked Liu Wenjing, "Is this Taoist priest here to sign up as well?"
Liu Wenjing nodded, "I'll ask him to go over there and queue up to sign up."
Xiao Xia was about to leave, how could Wei Zheng miss this opportunity to meet the chief steward? He immediately took the initiative to step forward, bowed and said: "I am Wei Zheng, I am here to see Chief Steward Xiao!"
(End of this chapter)