Chapter 10 Officialdom
There must be brave men under heavy rewards, not to mention that most of the soldiers of the Qi family cannot survive recruiting soldiers. Naturally, some people try their best to make this money, so the Qi family's army is so combat-effective. Ge Dan originally thought that these things happened in the army, but he didn't expect that the civil servants would be the same. He was really dumbfounded!
"The salary is insufficient, but people have to live!" Ge Lin said softly: "Who pays the salary of the masters and clerks in the yamen? If they don't pay the tax, where will they pay? There are big merchants in the commercial tax, and not many of them are collected. The merchants will also be paid by clerks on the streets, and they will turn a blind eye. Of course, officials have to do something about taxation, and it is appropriate to collect 20% more."
"In addition to these, the money for filial piety to Shangguan every year is like ice in summer, charcoal in winter, and concubines in birthdays. These are all daily expenses. In addition, if you want to go up, you also need to have the money to welcome and send guests and gifts. These also require money. In addition, officials are putting a little in their pockets, and these are all money. How can this money come about?"
Ge Dan was dumbfounded when he heard this. This was blatant corruption! He was doing so openly, corruption from top to bottom!
In his previous life, Ge Dan knew about Zhang Juzheng's reform and also knew that Zhang Juzheng's own life was corrupt and degenerate. Ge Dan even thought about why reform did not start with anti-corruption. Now Ge Dan understands that anti-corruption, whoever fights will die. Ge Dan couldn't help but say that in his mind.
"This corruption has reached the core of the Kuomintang. If you resist, you will destroy the party; if you don't, you will destroy the country. It's difficult, it's difficult!"
At this time, Ge Dan also realized that this corruption had reached the bones of the Ming Dynasty. Whoever fights corruption will die.
Ge Lin looked at Ge Dan's shocked look, smiled slightly, picked up the teacup and took a sip, and said with a smile: "Actually, the solution is simple, that is, the court actually pays the salary, and then the strict laws are strict, and one is caught and killed. But you have to know that the court has no money, and if you want to pay the salary, you have to open source, but where does this money come from? It's not taxes, but now it's like this, do you have to increase taxes? That's going to cause trouble."
"Why can't you attack the merchants? The salt merchant is very rich." Ge Dan thought about it and expressed his thoughts.
"Salt Merchant?" Ge Lin glanced at Ge Dan and said helplessly: "Who dares! Do you know who those salt merchants are?"
Ge Dan could hear Ge Lin's sigh of "Who dares" was all helpless. Ge Dan was also silent. He knew that he could not say anything. Not to mention that he was a county magistrate, even if he became a chief official, this matter was not something he could do. After looking at Ge Lin, Ge Dan hesitated and said, "Do we have to do this too?"
Ge Dan had thought before that he would be an honest official or a corrupt official when he became an official, but he didn't give Ge Dan a choice at the beginning.
"If you don't do it, you won't be able to collect the taxes!" Ge Lin said with a serious face: "If you can't feed the clerks, they won't be able to eat, they won't work. Who knows how much tax-free land is in the county and how much hidden land is? I have touched it these days. Danyang is not a big county, but there are some juren and Jinshi."
Ge Danran also knew that the relationship between these juren and Jinshi was complicated, including fellow villagers, classmates, the same year, etc., plus teachers and teachers, forming a very large network of relationships.
It is impossible for him, the county magistrate, to pry a county. Ge Dan sat on the stone bench with a blank expression, a little confused.
Seeing Ge Dan sitting there in a daze, Ge Lin didn't continue to say anything. He knew that the master sent him here to teach the young master what officialdom is, and this was not the first step. Ge Dan's reaction was not beyond Ge Lin's expectations. After all, he learned the books of sages when he was studying before, so it was normal for him to suddenly face some progress and retreat in the officialdom. It was nothing if he couldn't accept it for a while.
Ge Dan sat on the stone bench with a expressionless face. Such an officialdom is different from that in Ge Dan's imagination, and there is not even a place to fit at all.
Instead of continuing to sit here, Ge Lin stood up and left. He knew that Ge Dan would take some time to understand and figure it out.
The afternoon weather became hotter and hotter, but it became gloomy. A thunderous thunder woke Ge Dan up from his meditation. Ge Dan looked up at the sky, and then the raindrops kept falling from the sky, getting bigger and bigger. Ge Dan also turned around and ran under the eaves. Seeing the water droplets constantly hitting the ground, Ge Dan sighed softly, Ge Dan was very confused now.
I want to do something, but I don’t know what I want to do. I have a lot of things, as if it’s a mess, I can’t cut it, and it’s still messy.
What Ge Dan did not expect was this heavy rain. Originally, Ge Dan thought it would be only two days later, but Ge Dan did not expect that the rain would not end. After the heavy rain all night, Ge Dan realized that things might be going bad. Soon, Ge Dan's idea was confirmed. The county government was considered a good drainage place, but there was also water accumulation.
The next day, the heavy rain still did not stop. By the afternoon, someone had already reported that there was waterlogging in the county town.
Ge Dan was suddenly shocked. Not to mention at this time, even in the later times, when water conservancy projects were very complete, floods were still a fearful word.
What Ge Dan was thinking about had become unimportant. Now Ge Dan was thinking about floods. He really didn't care about other things, so he should take care of them first! Ge Dan's worries were quickly verified. On the third day of the heavy rain, people below reported that Jiuqu River broke the mouth, the river water rushed out of the river and poured into the farmland, and several villages and towns were flooded.
After hearing the news, Ge Dan sat on the chair and his expression became very ugly.
Seeing Ge Dan standing up and trying to walk out, Ge Lin grabbed Ge Dan and looked at Ge Dan with a serious face: "Young Master, what are you going to do?"
Ge Dan was stunned: "The Jiuqu River broke through the dam. Of course, it was to go to rescue the disaster and organize people to save people!"
Ge Lin held Ge Dan's hand tighter, and his expression on his face became more serious: "Young Master, you can't go. It's too dangerous to go out at this time. Natural disasters are ruthless. Once something happens to the young master, Danyang County will be in chaos. Moreover, after the flood, there must be more bandits. It's too dangerous for the young master to go out now. What the young master should do now is to clean the treasury and prepare food for disaster relief."
Chapter completed!