Six Hundred and Forty Four Shows the Sincerity of the Great Song Dynasty

The team that welcomed and escorted Xin Qiji went straight from the Chuzhou border to Jiankang. After passing Jiankang, they headed south and headed straight to Lin'an.

Along the way, the entire team encountered three days of snow, and the snow was quite deep, making it difficult to walk on the road.

In order to allow Xin Qiji to arrive in Lin'an faster, Wang Lun decided to go to the waterway if he could.

If the water surface is frozen thicker and you really can't get through the waterway, then officials from all counties along the way will be asked to recruit labor to sweep the snow and remove all the snow on the official road, striving to make the convoy escort Xin Qiji unobstructed and not be blocked by the wind and snow.

Looking at the laborers who were dressed in thin clothes, covered in snowflakes and were trembling with cold, Xin Qiji felt reluctant and suggested that they would not have to make it so hard and just walk down for a while.

"This is normal labor, and it is labor that locals have to bear in line with the laws of the Song Dynasty every year. They are not allowed to sweep the snow. There are other things to do, sooner or later, and they are indispensable."

The accompanying official said with such a smile.

Xin Qiji was speechless after hearing this.

The accompanying officials thought Xin Qiji didn't understand this, so they explained some content to him.

The people of the Southern Song Dynasty not only had to bear heavy taxes, but also had to bear free labor for a period of time every year, and were responsible for doing some engineering projects or other things for the official.

The official is only responsible for the food and does not pay.

Of course, it is conceivable how the quality of the rice is, and it is enough to let them eat without starving to death.

It would be fine if the relevant officials in charge of this part had some conscience, but those who do not have conscience do not care about the lives of the laborers. It is justified that they deduct the expenses and make money from them.

Originally, the food expenses that the official gave to the laborers were the hardest hit areas for the relevant officials to make money. They tried every means to get some bargains to deal with the laborers, and they made a fortune by themselves, making a fortune, and they were very happy.

But this is not the case in the Ming Dynasty.

Although the Ming Dynasty also had regulations to recruit people to participate in labor, it not only managed food, but also paid money. If the local government was in a tight financial situation and could not afford money for a while, it would be given a white note in the previous era of the Restoration Army.

This white note can not only be used to exchange money when the government has sufficient funds, but also to use white note to deduct taxes if you don’t want to exchange money.

When the tax collector comes to collect taxes, he will hand over this white note to the tax collector, which can offset the corresponding tax. He doesn't have to give that part of the tax. In short, it is not necessary to let the people suffer losses.

This regulation has been implemented for a long time since the era of the Restoration Army.

As of now, many places have farmers who have used the tax credits they received for the Restoration Army before. The tax department also accepted them all, and there is no such thing as not collecting the money but having to collect money.

So this white note is very credible among the people.

When the government proposed to pay the people who participated in the work, the people were willing to accept the people. Sometimes, if both parties who were doing transactions in the market could not afford the money for a while, they would use the officially certified white stick instead of money for transactions, which could be recognized.

This is a very reputable manifestation of the white strips.

There are also clear regulations on the food issues of working people.

The project manager needs to use funds to provide food to the people who are participating in labor service. The food is stipulated to be three meals a day, and at least one dry meal is required. It is not very good, but it must be full. If the people who are participating in labor service are hungry, the problem will be great.

On the way south, Xin Qiji passed several construction sites that built small-scale water conservancy projects, and personally visited the labor and food on these construction sites, but did not find any personal pockets.

But what I saw now made Xin Qiji sure that these Southern Song people who were sweeping snow with the severe cold wind would not get enough food to fill their stomachs. It is common for them to endure hunger.

The Ming envoys, including Xin Qiji, were always missing three meals a day during their journey.

Every meal can not only be full, but also eat well. No matter where you are, even on the official road far away from the town, Xin Qiji can eat hot soup prepared by local officials as soon as it arrives at meal time.

The taste is very good, the ingredients are also very good, there is no shortage of chicken, duck, fish and meat, the dishes are also quite exquisite, and they are completely restaurant style.

So Xin Qiji raised questions.

"Isn't this too much? It seems that it's not close to the town. Did these officials and chefs stay here early?"

Wang Lun smiled.

"Your Majesty said that you should let the Northern Dynasties feel at home and be at home to show the sincerity of the Song Dynasty. You cannot satisfy the Northern Dynasties. The Song Dynasty does not understand the way of hospitality."

"All the expenses?"

"The local government has its own arrangements. President Xin should not worry about this. Can't the Song Dynasty even afford to invite several meals?"

Wang Lun smiled and drank delicious fish soup with a bowl of smiles, with a happy look on his face.

Xin Qiji looked at the chef who brought them fish soup and hot rice and vegetables again. He saw that their faces and hands were red, there were many cracks on their skin, and there were many blood marks.

Xin Qiji looked at the bowl of fish soup in his hand again, sighed slightly, and drank no drop of the bowl of fish soup.

The taste is very delicious, the soup is very rich, and it tastes particularly delicious. These chefs are obviously not ordinary chefs, and the food treatment is not ordinary.

Xin Qiji couldn't help but remember that he did not have such treatment when he went south from Zhongdu to Haizhou.

After Su Yonglin was founded, because of the huge expenditures in all aspects and the court's finances were tight, the places where they could be saved would definitely be saved.

He will definitely rack his brains to save any expenses that can be saved on other official projects that cannot be saved. For this reason, he also convened several meetings of the Ministry of Finance officials and rectified many expenditures in previous dynasties.

Su Yonglin took the lead in the royal family's expenses, and used the royal family's expenses to be used for food, clothing, housing, transportation, celebrations and sacrifices, which was greatly reduced compared with the previous dynasty.

First machete yourself, set an example, and then attack other parts, which will look better.

The emperor set an example and machetes on himself. Can't you ministers be in line with the emperor?

So a comprehensive public expenditure reduction plan began to be implemented, and there were many rectifications, including various expenses for officials on business trips.

All kinds of expenses that officials incurred for business trips during business trips in history were all expenses of public funds. If they did not have to pay for business trips on business trips on business trips, they would not have been so crazy.

He also stipulated that officials can eat and stay in designated inns on designated roads for free due to official business trips. The officials do not need to spend their own money throughout the process, and all of them are spent by the state's fiscal expenditure.

However, in terms of actual situation, there are still many difficulties in the business trip system after being changed by Su Yonglin.

For example, due to various force majeure reasons, you cannot arrive at the station within the specified time. For example, it is too early or too late, and the chefs at the station are resting, so no one can cook for you.

When I was at dinner time, I couldn’t get to the station and felt so hungry that I had no food to eat. That was a helpless thing.

Moreover, even if he arrived at the inn on time and someone cooked for him, Su Yonglin also set a detailed standard for eating and drinking for each inn that reached a certain level.

That standard is comparable to that seen by Xin Qiji when he was eating a big pot meal in the army.

It is a scheming point, and even the pounds of ingredients are specified. The amount of ingredients used for a dish is specified, and it is not allowed to exceed it. It can be said that it is extremely strict to limit the space for officials and station managers to seek personal gain from it.

In order to further save funds, the Ministry of Finance also set up a special station management department, and every station on each official road is recorded, and everyone is remembered.

The department is also responsible for reviewing the financial expenditures of each station, striving to calculate every account in place. If there is any problem, the station manager will face serious scrutiny.

As a second-rank official, Xin Qiji only has three dishes and one soup for a meal when he is on a business trip, including one meat and one vegetable, one egg and one last vegetable and one meat soup, which is rich in nutrition and comprehensive.

According to their respective grades, there are two dishes, one soup and one soup, and there are always meat and fish.

Of course, the amount of dishes is not large, but the rice is full and you won’t be hungry no matter how you are.

But what makes the business travel officials feel most embarrassing is the taste of the dishes.
Chapter completed!