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Chapter 164 "Furthermore"

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    Perhaps because Zhao Ran's words about pulling tiger skins calmed down Magistrate Kong, this old parent from Guyang County unexpectedly agreed with Zhao Ran's words: "I highly appreciate Fangzhu Zhao's compassionate heart.  What the Fang Master said is true, this young man¡¯s money is indeed a bad government now.¡±

    Zhao Ran was stunned. He really didn't expect that County Magistrate Kong would express his attitude so clearly. When he was still hesitating to speculate whether the magistrate's words were sincere, the other party directly opened the chat box to clarify his attitude: "Zhao Fangzhu, please don't think that I am an official.  Echoing the false claims, since I took over Guyang County, the land tax paid has been fixed, and the labor force collected has never been less, but more, but what is the reality? The number of taxable acres in the county's fish scale book has been decreasing day by day, and the labor force has been reduced day by day.  The population has not increased. Three years ago, the county's tax land totaled 176,500 acres. Last year, it dropped to 174,300 acres. This year, it is 173,200 acres.  A thousand acres were reduced; the population also dropped from 37,000 to 36,000. Where have these fields and people gone? Without exception, they have become the fields and tenant servants of the wealthy gentry. If they are allowed to continue, hundreds of  Many years from now, Guyang County will no longer have any taxable land or taxable land!"

    Zhao Ran felt his scalp numb as he listened to these shocking figures. Magistrate Kong seemed to have found someone to complain to, and he continued to complain: "Master Zhao, don't think that I have benefited from this, so you are willing to continue to act as an aide. I am.  The official is not afraid to tell the truth. How much money can I get from the young man's money? Is this official so poor that I have to use this money to start the pot? I am in any party, not to mention benefiting the other party, at least I must pass the performance evaluation every year, right?  Money, food, taxes and servitude are actually the focus of the court's assessment. I would rather not have this money, but also hope to worry about the assessment grade. I am less than fifty this year"

    Zhao Ran looked at his white hair and secretly thought, Mr. Kong County, are you kidding me?

    "Therefore, I also look forward to further progress in my official career, so I am often worried about this. I just wonder if Fangzhao has any good solutions to the mismanagement of Qingmiao's money? I think Fangzhao is not here to collect the land, right?"

    As soon as Zhao Ran thought about it, he knew that Magistrate Kong was telling the truth.  Local officials in the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to hold office in their place of origin, nor were they allowed to purchase land in the place where they served. Magistrate Kong County may become another wealthy gentry after he becomes an official in the future, but during his tenure in Guyang County, the most important thing for him must be the court assessment.  It is inevitable to be worried about the gradually decreasing acres and acreage.

    Now that he is on the same side as Magistrate Kong, Zhao Ran feels much more relaxed.

    "To be honest with the county magistrate, Pindao has a small amount of money, and he is willing to use this as a basis to get involved in the loan of young crops. Pindao's method is to give money to poor people who need loans, and he will earn an interest of 8%. When he returns the money to the young crops,  For two points.¡±

    Zhao Ran plans to set the interest rate for repaying the young crop warehouse at two cents. Although this figure is not up to the level of loan sharking for wealthy gentry, it is basically close. If you borrow more, the amount will not be much different.  It is enough to make up for the interests of the government and Taoist temples in young crops.

    The official interest rate of young crops money is 4%. This interest rate is indeed too low. Zhao Ran raised it to 8%, which is also within the range of the common people. This can also reduce his burden on the interest rate difference.  This reduced the interest he subsidized to the Qingmiao warehouse from 1.6% to 1.2%.

    Zhao Ran's 8% interest rate can basically form a crushing trend, and the loan sharking market of the wealthy gentry will be severely impacted - unless they lower the price, and once the price drops, Zhao Ran does not mind at all that ordinary people borrow debts with 80% interest rate.  Money, this is also his merit.

    County Magistrate Kong pondered for a moment, then immediately calculated a number and frowned: "In this case, Fangzhu Zhao may need to spend two thousand silver a year. This Fangzhu Zhao must think twice."

    Zhao Ran said: "The county magistrate is aware of it, and it is indeed the case. However, Pindao has another idea, and I sincerely ask the county magistrate to agree."

    "Master Zhao, please speak."

    "Pindao plans to contract the land west of Jundu Mountain in the southwest of this county"

    "Contracting? What is contracting?"

    "Uhit means taking over the land contract. Pindao begs the county to hand over the land to Pindao, who will take full responsibility for its management."

    "Zhao Fangzhu is planning to organize manpower to farm the fields? But there are wastelands over there, and the county does not have the manpower to open up wasteland."

    "The county magistrate does not need to worry, Pindao has his own solution. Pindao plans to contract for fifty years. He also asked the county magistrate to exempt the land tax for the first three years. After three years, he is willing to pay two bushels of grain per mu, and after ten years, he will pay three bushels of grain per mu!  "

    Kong Xianzun¡¯s face was not very good, and he seemed a little reluctant.  Zhao Ran glanced at the other party's face secretly, and secretly wondered in his heart that by doing so, he was equivalent to increasing the number of tax fields in Guyang County. He had learned that the wasteland to the west of Jundu Mountain was approximately tens of thousands of acres, which was equivalent to directly increasing the number of tax fields in Kong County.  Logically speaking, Mr. Kong County should be happy about his political achievements. How come the result is the opposite?

    After thinking for a moment, Zhao Ran said:He suddenly understood and quickly changed his words: "County Lord, you can also change the approach. In the first two years, you will pay three buckets of grain per mu. After two years, you will pay one bucket of grain per mu. After ten years, the payment will return to three buckets of grain per mu. County Zun."  What do you think?" This was a typical "three-in-one" original intention. The total amount of food received was not much different, but County Magistrate Kong was immediately satisfied and nodded in agreement.

    The reason for this situation is none other than Kong Xianzun¡¯s term of office.  Kong Xianzun's term of office expires in two years. At that time, it will be the time for the official assessment. Zhao Ran said that the first three years are tax-free. For Kong County Zun, the achievement of adding more acres of land will be greatly discounted.  And after Zhao Ran slightly changes the way of paying taxes, Kong County Zun's political achievements in the past two years will be really good. As for two years later - he may have been transferred and will not have the time to worry.  As long as Kong Xianzun signs this "contract agreement", his successor cannot change it.

    As for Zhao Ran, because he plays the role of a 'general contractor', he doesn't care whether he pays the food first or later, as long as he takes out the money to advance the payment.

    Everything is going very well. Zhao Ran and Kong Xianzun had a great conversation and almost all the details were agreed upon.  The reason why I say almost is because Kong County Zun has a request. He hopes that it is best to have an official document issued by Xizhenwu Palace to allow Zhao Ran, the head of Wujiyuan, to participate in the loan of young crops money.

    Kong County Zun is really a very straightforward person. He confessed to Zhao Ran that Zhao Ran's involvement in lending money to young people would greatly offend the wealthy gentry in Guyang County, and these wealthy gentry in the government, province, and even the court would probably be in trouble.  They all have a lot of energy. If these big households are blamed (which is inevitable), he, a small county magistrate, may not be able to bear it.

    Thinking from his perspective, Zhao Ran understood this. Then he left the county government. What he had to do next was to find a way to obtain the official documents from Xizhenwu Palace.

    Zhao Ran first went to the Charity Hall and asked Manager Li to suspend the distribution of charity money, and then hurried back to Wuji Mountain. As soon as he returned to the mountain, Zhao Ran received an official document from Dian Zaofang, asking Zhao Ran to go and handle the case.  Wei Wu set up a Taoist altar privately and tampered with Taoist teachings without authorization.

    Okay, I wonder if you will get merit for handling this case? Zhao Ran couldn't say for himself, but subconsciously he felt that he should be able to get a lot. Eradicating the cult that bewitched and harmed people in one fell swoop would be a great merit.  ?Zhao Ran is still very interested in this.

    Taking the official document issued by the Taoist Temple, Zhao Ran ordered ten inspectors to inspect the Fangtang. The remaining ten inspectors were handed over to Jiang Zhiheng for management, and he asked him to ensure the safety of Wuji Temple before going down the mountain.

    Jiang Zhiheng looked at Zhao Ran walking down the mountain and couldn't help but sigh up to the sky. He finally realized the bitter consequences of being suppressed by his superiors. Speaking of which, Wei Wu is a famous rich man in Guyang County. This kind of case is really rare in a century.  I don¡¯t know how much money a person can get. Jiang Zhiheng originally hoped that Zhao Ran would take him with him, but all his hopes have now turned into water, and he can only defend the mountain obediently.

    Zhao Ran didn't care about Jiang Zhiheng's petty thoughts at all. He really had no experience in handling such cases. Of course, he didn't know how many people had made a fortune from this. But according to his understanding, if someone goes out, someone must stay behind, and  Since this matter is related to his practice, unfortunately, the only one left behind is Jiang Zhiheng.

    Zhao Ran, holding the Taoist order in hand, led ten patrolmen including Guan Er, and gathered dozens of spies and archers brought by Jinxian Lieutenant from the county government, as well as hundreds of young men temporarily recruited by Jinxian Lieutenant in the county.  , driving more than a dozen carts, loaded with swords, guns, sticks, bows and arrows, marched toward Zongjiazhuang in a mighty manner.

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