Qing Yao

Chapter 214 Mynah, we need to be rich!

The golden rat was not the five-pound rat that Prefect Guo of Gaoyou gave to Zhao An, but a batch of "gift rats" that Zhao An had specially ordered for him by a gold shop after returning to Yangzhou.

A total of twenty were ordered, each weighing one catty (approximately 500 grams), with a catty containing sixteen taels (approximately 360 grams), and a market price of one hundred and sixty taels (approximately 300 grams).

The twenty ceremonial rats, including processing fees, cost less than three thousand four hundred taels in total.

Why order so much?

No reason why, it's Chinese New Year, and giving away a golden rat is more extravagant than giving away a red envelope.

To mark the occasion, Zhao An had the gold shop carve the eight characters "May you have prosperity and longevity, may you have fortune and joy" on the belly of each rat.

Youlu ranks first.

It was a joyous occasion and quite impressive.

The fact that Zhao An presented a golden rat worth 160 taels of silver upon their first meeting, especially to a Central Army Corps Commander who had previously been indifferent to him, clearly revealed his true intentions.

There was no other way; we had to win over Eighty-Six, and we had to do our best to win him over and support him. The reason was simple: four years later, the Eight Banners of Jiangning would be one of the main forces of the Central Army in the campaign to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion.

As the commander of the Central Army Corps, it was impossible for Eighty-Six not to lead troops to the front line. Therefore, it was necessary to cultivate a good relationship with Eighty-Six and develop him into a member of the microloan gang through mutual benefits, so as to cooperate with the second phase of development plan proposed by Zhao An.

It is said that having connections in officialdom makes things easier; similarly, having connections in the military also makes things easier.

Take Zhao An for example. If he wanted to become an official on the front lines after the uprising broke out, whether he wanted to be a local official, a logistics officer, or a civil official who wanted to switch to military service, he would need someone in the military to speak on his behalf.

A report from a general of the Central Army to the court stating that a certain official is capable is far more effective than Zhao An boasting that Han Xin has been resurrected or Zhang Liang has been reincarnated.

In terms of salary, the 86th rank, a fourth-grade Zuo Ling, received a fixed annual salary of 105 taels of silver, plus an additional 105 bushels of rice, which is equivalent to a fixed annual salary of about 400 taels of silver.

There was no allowance for maintaining integrity, because only officials of the third rank or above in the Eight Banners of Beijing could receive such an allowance, which was set at 86,000 taels of silver. This was known as the Banner Officials' Integrity Maintenance System.

Officials of the third rank and below were to be distributed among themselves if there were any surpluses after the ministers had distributed the funds.

In the Eight Banners garrison area, only generals, commanders-in-chief, and captains received allowances for maintaining integrity; the rest did not.

It's not that the Bannermen didn't fare as well as the Han members, but rather that the Bannermen were part of the Eight Banners military system. Their entire families, even newborn babies, received a guaranteed stipend of several dozen taels of silver. In addition, many Bannermen had hereditary titles, which provided them with another fixed salary.

Officers like the 86th, who do not serve in external posts, can receive a military allowance when they go on campaign. Although they do not receive a stipend for maintaining integrity on ordinary days, they still have a fixed allowance to receive.

All things considered, the annual salary would amount to at least one thousand taels.

This is based on the premise of being an "honest person." Those who are dishonest and use their status as a banner member to settle disputes or do business can earn a considerable income.

If you're assigned to a local post, your annual income will start at tens of millions of dollars.

When a banner officer is transferred to a local post, he is promoted one rank. In other words, if the Eighty-Sixth Banner Commander had not been transferred from the Central Army Corps to a local post, he would have started as a third-rank official, the same level as Zhao Dehan, the magistrate of Yangzhou. However, Zhao Dehan would have to show him proper respect.

In the event of war, the 86th Army Corps Commander of the Central Army could directly send the Green Standard Army General to the front as cannon fodder, while he supervised the battle from behind.

The problem is that Ba Liu is not only an "honest man", but also an "honest man" who doesn't understand social etiquette. He has a very bad relationship with his superiors at work, and he can't get along with his colleagues. In addition, as the eldest son, he has to support a large family of dozens of people, so his salary is definitely not enough to make ends meet.

I often go to the pawnshop at the end of the year.

So, Shi, who had always lived a life of financial hardship with her husband, must have been overjoyed and excited when she saw such a large piece of gold rat. However, she knew that no matter how big the gold rat was, she, as the wife, could not take it without her husband's permission.

Subconsciously, she glanced at her husband sitting there, then at her brother. There was nothing that couldn't be said between siblings. Although Manager Shi didn't speak, his eyes clearly told his sister that she could accept it. The implication was that Lord Zhao was not an outsider, and once the golden rat was taken out, there was no reason to take it back.

However, Shi still dared not, because her husband had not expressed his opinion.

Eighty-six spoke up, his brows furrowing slightly: "I have just met Lord Zhao, how can I accept such a valuable gift from you? Please take it back, Lord Zhao."

"Does Your Excellency treat me like an outsider?"

Zhao An chuckled and said, "Your Excellency may not know this, but Manager Shi and I are close friends. Although this is our first meeting, we are by no means strangers. I have long admired Your Excellency's reputation!"

After saying that, he looked at Madam Shi and shamelessly said, "This humble official would like to ask if I could call you sister-in-law?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Manager Shi objected: "How can you call her sister-in-law? We're brothers, aren't we sister and brother-in-law?"

"Ah, yes, yes!"

Zhao An slapped his forehead, "Look at my words, it's sister and brother-in-law!"

Without a word, he stuffed the golden rat into Shi's hand, saying, "If you think highly of me, sister, this little golden rat is nothing. Next year, I'll even make you a hundred-pound golden ox."

"."

Shi was a little embarrassed to say it, but still didn't dare to take it.

Seeing this, Manager Shi took the golden rat from Zhao An and placed it in his sister's hands: "Lord Zhao is already calling you sister. If you don't accept it, won't you embarrass Lord Zhao?"

"Brother, I..."

The Shi family was in a dilemma.

The older brother, of course, understood his younger sister's little scheme, and gave his brother-in-law a slight snort: "Eighty-six, outsiders call you Eighth Master and fawn over you. What, does Eighth Master also need me, his brother-in-law, to fawn over and coax him?"

"Brother, where am I supposed to stand after what you've said?"

Even if Ba Liushi was clueless about social etiquette, he wouldn't want to embarrass his brother-in-law. He stood up awkwardly, but didn't know what to say.

"Then don't put on that face. To tell you the truth, how much money does your position as a lieutenant commander earn in a year? You're already forty years old. Are you planning to live like this for the rest of your life? I can't control what you think, but you can't let my sister and nephew live a poor life with you, can you?"

Lord Zhao suggested we do business together, not because you, as a military officer, are anything special, but because he's giving me face. To be honest, this business doesn't depend on you!

Shopkeeper Shi was clearly angry with his brother-in-law, Eighty-Six.

"Brother, say less."

Shi felt sorry for her husband and did not want her brother to criticize him in front of outsiders.

"Say less? Why should I say less? Back then, your father insisted on marrying you off to him, saying that you'd have a good life with him at eighty-six. But how have you lived your life? Don't you know the answer to that?"

Shopkeeper Shi got angrier and angrier, saying that he had secretly helped his sister out of a lot of money over the years, and that Eighty-Six didn't know that.

Seeing that Eighty-Six's face was turning red, Zhao An quickly interrupted Manager Shi and stepped forward to the Central Army Commander, whose pride had been severely hurt, and said, "Brother-in-law, I heard Brother Shi mention that you personally donned armor and charged into battle in Jinchuan to be promoted to Zuo Ling. You were a truly remarkable hero. But you must know that even a hero can be brought down by a single penny!"
These days, if you don't have money, even a dragon has to coil up, and a tiger has to lie low. Feeling resentful is useless. Take your career, brother-in-law, for example. If you had tens of thousands of taels of silver in hand, you would have been promoted long ago. We can't even dream of becoming a general or commander-in-chief, but becoming a lieutenant or assistant commander would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?

(End of this chapter)