Farmhouse Green Plum

Chapter 637 Fundraising Fee

"Children grow very quickly, changing every day. He must have grown taller." After saying this, Song Ying realized that something was wrong. Yu Lingwan was missing her son, and if she said this, wouldn't it make her feel even more regretful?

She quickly changed the subject, "In no more than a month, the boat will reach Jiangling, and mother and son will be reunited. Oh, and why do we have to stay in Linqing for two days?"

Thinking that she would be able to see her son in a month, Yu Lingwan felt a little relieved. "There wasn't much rain in the north this year, so the river gate officials added a new item called 'raising fee,' which caused dissatisfaction among many grain transport ships and private merchants.

Without payment, the gatekeepers refused to open the gates to release the water. The two sides were at a stalemate and a row ensued. A gatekeeper lost his temper and threw the hook, injuring a boatman. This sparked public outrage, and the soldiers on the canal boats and the escorts hired by the merchant gangs rioted, resulting in over 30 casualties.

Song Ying was shocked. Is this a riot?

She didn't know much about things on the water, but as a commoner from the lower class, she subconsciously disliked the newly added heavy taxes and levies.

Yu Lingwan also went to Beijing by water. She had an experienced old servant to explain things to her. He had some knowledge of things on the water and he told Song Ying about it in detail.

It turns out that the terrain of the Grand Canal is low at the north and south ends, while the terrain in the middle Shandong section is very high, which is the so-called river ridge.

Therefore, many river gates and steep water gates for diverting and releasing water were built in this section. Each river gate had a gate officer and thirty gatekeepers.

When the ship arrives, the lock official will first send the lockman to collect two taels of silver as a standard fee before letting the ship pass.

Therefore, although this gate official is just a low-ranking job, it is a lucrative position.

As for paying tribute, it is needed everywhere. Even though the ships passing by are not happy about it, they have no choice but to pay the money.

However, there was not much rain this year, so more water needed to be released to allow ships to pass through the lock. The lock official used this as an excuse to collect extra money, which eventually angered the canal soldiers and merchants.

Especially the canal boats.

Before the grain ship set out, it was necessary to go to the grain administration office to obtain a pass, and each ship had to pay five taels of silver as a rule. Then, when going to the prefecture or county to obtain a grain certificate, each ship needed to pay another five or six taels of silver.

After receiving the grain certificate, when going to the water warehouse to load the grain, they had to endure another layer of exploitation. The grain certificate said 1,000 dan, but the actual amount given was usually only 500 or 600 dan, and half of it was miscellaneous. When the grain arrived at the destination, it was required to deliver the full amount of grain according to the grain certificate.

The missing part can only be made up by the transport troops themselves.

Adding in all the miscellaneous expenses along the way, the canal soldiers were simply driven to death.

During the reign of King Sejong, the transport soldiers could not bear the hardship of grain transport and desertion became a serious problem, sometimes even as high as 30%. The court had no choice but to make a loophole and allow grain transport ships to smuggle some soil to be sold at the destination, as long as they did not accept requests from merchants and did not delay grain transport.

Even with this profit, the grain transporters often lost money transporting grain.

Therefore, this increased "raising fee" can be said to be digging the blood and flesh of the canal soldiers.

Song Ying was shocked after hearing this. Soldiers serve in order to get food, but when it comes down to it, the grain transport soldiers work hard but end up owing a lot of debt!

This is simply ridiculous!

Suspecting that Yu Lingwan had remembered it wrong, she went to ask the transport workers on the ship, and the result she got shocked her even more.

Generally speaking, soldiers need one liter and a half of rice to be full for three meals a day; but the transporters only consume an average of nine liters of rice a day.

Song Ying felt very heavy-hearted when she heard this. She was unhappy when she heard that the gate officials were charging fees under various pretexts, but that was all.

Because she thought that the caravan had high profits, and this little bit of money was just a little less, and the grain transport soldiers were officials, and no matter what, their lives were better than those of the lower-class people.

She never expected that the soldier who she thought was high and mighty could be exploited to such an extent!

As dusk fell, the grain boat slowly docked at the Linqing Wharf. Song Ying and his entourage got off the boat, agreed on a departure time with the captain, General Chu, who was in charge of transporting troops on this trip and was a seventh-rank general, and then went to the post station on the outskirts of the city.

At the invitation of Zhang Renzhi, Song Ying and Yuan Qing were also able to stay at the inn with them. When traveling abroad, they were unfamiliar with the place and if they encountered a black-hearted inn, they would have nowhere to cry.

The group had just arrived at the post station and was about to follow the postmaster to settle down when they suddenly heard the hurried sound of horse hooves coming closer and closer outside the door.

"Mr. Zhang—"

The call was so urgent and loud that it startled Song Ying. Looking back, he saw an official in his fifties or sixties, wearing a green robe with a square white crane patch embroidered on it, getting off the carriage with the help of the coachman.

He bowed respectfully and said, "Your humble servant, Wang Hongyi, the prefect of Linqing, was unaware that Mr. Zhang was visiting our state. I apologize for not welcoming you from afar. I am truly sorry."

After saying this, he stood up and continued, "I have prepared some light wine in the guest house. I hope Mr. Zhang will honor me by allowing me to show my hospitality."

Zhang Renzhi said calmly, "You are too polite, Governor Wang. I am just a commoner and do not deserve such a generous gift."

Hong Yi was not annoyed by this indifferent expression. Instead, he bent down a little more and said, "Mr. Zhang is a man of great literary talent. I admire him very much. It is my honor to have you to our banquet."

Glancing at the pot-bellied Yu Lingwan beside him, he changed the subject, "My humble servant sees that Madam is in great health and the post station is so simple that she's afraid she won't be able to rest well. Although my humble abode is shabby, it's close to the clinic and the medicine shop. If Mr. Zhang doesn't mind, why not stay at my humble abode for a couple of days?"

This time, Zhang Renzhi didn't refuse immediately. His eyes fell on Yu Lingwan's bulging belly. His wife was nearly nine months pregnant. Although Dr. Song Ying was taking her pulse daily, who could guarantee safety with the birth approaching? The post station was far from the city's herbal medicine shops. If anything went wrong...

He hesitated for a moment, but finally agreed, which made Wang Zhizhou overjoyed. He immediately ordered the servants to help them move their luggage and prepared a sedan chair to take them to the yamen for settlement.

Along the way, he was extremely cordial towards Zhang Renzhi, which puzzled Song Ying. He asked Yuan Qing, "Isn't the prefect a sixth-rank official? Why is he so attentive to a sixth-rank editor who is in mourning?"

Yuan Qing corrected him in a low voice: "Linqing is directly under the Provincial Administration Department, and its prefect is a fifth-rank official."

"Directly under the Provincial Government? Is there such a division?" Song Ying was even more confused, because this Magistrate Wang was two levels higher than Zhang Renzhi!

"Beijing officials are by default two ranks higher than local officials, and Hanlin is noble and distinguished, making him an extraordinary figure among Beijing officials. Not to mention a sixth-rank official, even a seventh-rank editor would at least be a fourth-rank prefect if he were released.

Even if he resigned due to mourning, he still has the friendship of his colleagues in the academy, which are all connections. Moreover, given Brother Zhang's age and ability, reinstatement is only a matter of time."

Song Ying suddenly understood. No wonder Magistrate Wang was so attentive and attentive, as if he was meeting his immediate superior.

It has always been said that Hanlin is noble and elegant, and she can feel it intuitively. She doesn't know whether it is noble or not, but it is clear that she is noble.