Princess Promotion

The next day, Song Guguang received an exam recommendation letter with Fu Hongxuan's seal?

Song Guguang blinked and read the letter again from beginning to end.

Then he looked up and pointed at the letter and asked, "What's going on?"

Yao Chuguang pointed at the words above and asked doubtfully, "You...can't read?"

Song Guguang was almost vomiting blood in anger, and gritted his teeth and said: "Of course I can read, what I'm asking is why it's a recommendation letter for the exam?"

Since the empress ascended the throne, all positions involving government offices, regardless of size, must be filled through examinations and admission is based on merit.

Some official positions with certain ranks required passing the imperial examination, obtaining a ranking, and then being assigned by the Ministry of Households.

As for some yamen runners in the county government, which do not require such high skills, the county government needs to recruit them through public examinations.

Anyone who is of the required age, has passed identity verification, and is not a slave, criminal, or sinner can participate.

Now the letter given by Yao Chuguang is equivalent to an admission ticket.

If the person he recommended could get in based on his own ability, why would he bother using the back door? It would be a waste of time. Song Guguang had thought that this woman was a black-hearted person, but he didn't expect her to be so black-hearted.

Yao Chuguang said calmly, "Don't worry. You should know that the court is very strict in investigating the sale of official titles. All official positions must be obtained through examinations."

Now, let alone Fu Hongxuan's handwritten letter, even if he went there in person, he would have no right to interfere with the county government's recruitment examination.

If he intervenes by force, once the people start to riot and go to report the incident, Fu Hongxuan will be in trouble himself.

Song Guguan might not know the risks, so why would he need you to tell him here? He just wants to see how Fu Hongxuan will handle this matter so that he can find something to hold against him.

Song Guguang sneered and shook the letter in his hand, saying, "So, Miss Shen is saying that my one thousand taels of silver is only worth this qualification for the exam?"

You know, if you just want to take the exam, you only need to pay ten cents. But this woman dared to sell him this ten-cent item for one thousand and two taels of silver.

What is the difference between this and Mingqiang?

Yao Chuguang looked at Song Guguang with a look of "How can you look at me like that?" and said, "Of course not! Am I such a black-hearted person?"

"Don't worry, I have studied this matter of taking the back door for a long time and have quite some experience!" Yao Chuguang patted his chest and assured.

"Oh! Then Miss Shen, can you tell me what's the mystery behind this?" Song Guguang just watched Yao Chuguang edit quietly.

He just doesn't believe that a piece of toilet paper made of gold is not toilet paper?

Yao Chuguang said, "This is not just a simple letter of recommendation. You should know that the guarantor of this letter is the current commander-in-chief of Qi State."

Song Guanggu raised his eyebrows and signaled Yao Chuguang to continue making up stories.

"You must know that with this letter of recommendation, no matter if the person you recommend is a vicious criminal or a freak with missing limbs, or even if you bring a pig with you, the county magistrate will give you a favor and let him take the exam."

Yao Chuguang pointed at the letter and praised it highly, as if it was not a letter but an imperial edict.

It can go up to the sky and down to the ground, but to put it bluntly, it is just an identity pass. If you fail the exam, it will be a waste of time.

Yao Chuguang looked at her with a look of disbelief. "You don't understand," she said, "You know, the officialdom relies on ability, not social connections. With this letter, even if you don't rank among the top, the county magistrate will turn a blind eye to your application based on this letter of recommendation."

Song Guanggu was silent. According to Yao Chuguang's words, as long as they had this letter, as long as that person passed the exam, they would definitely be able to enter.

Wait, how did he get led astray by this woman? This isn't right!

Song Guanggu pointed out the problem directly: "But your method only increases his chances of passing the exam, but it can't guarantee that he will pass the exam."

Yao Chuguang said righteously, "That's your fault. You didn't tell me yesterday that the person you were going to recommend was not good enough."

Song Guanggu looked at Yao Chuguang with a puzzled look. He had already used the back door. Wasn't that enough to prove the problem?

If someone has the ability to pass the exam, why would they spend money to use the backdoor?

Could it be that you think the silver is too much and want to burn it for fun?

Yao Chuguang said righteously, "I'm a perfectionist. If I do something, I have to do it perfectly. This is a business where we risk our lives. If we're not careful, we'll earn money but not live to spend it."

Yao Chuguang continued, "You have to understand that the effort and cost I have to pay vary depending on the level. If the person you recommend is just born with a less advanced background, or isn't so sure of their abilities, then this letter of recommendation will definitely solve their problem. I'll take care of it."

"After-sales? What is after-sales?" Song Guanggu looked puzzled.

Yao Chuguang said, "You don't understand this, do you? The current empress is extremely suspicious and selfless. She might dismiss Fu Hongxuan at any time. Once Fu Hongxuan falls, the monkeys will scatter!"

"Although my method costs a bit of money, it's safe! Even if Fu Hongxuan falls, I can still keep this position because he got in through legitimate channels."

Although Song Guanggu still felt that the money was not worth it, he had low expectations of Yao Chuguang.

I had already prepared for this woman to run away with the money, but after this woman's analysis, it seems to be the case.

Song Guanggu asked, "What if this person is only barely literate? How much silver would you charge to ensure they can enter?"

Yao Chuguang smiled professionally and said, "To ensure this person can pass the exam, there is a way, and there are two prices. You can choose whichever you want."

Song Guanggu became interested and asked, "How much silver is it? What's the difference between the cheap and the expensive ones?"

Yao Chuguang coaxed him gently, "This cheap thousand silver coins, I have a teacher here, and I'll pay him a lot of money to predict the exam questions. As long as anyone can complete all the questions given by the famous teacher and master these mathematics, it will definitely not be a problem for the exam to be top three."

Song Guanggu's face was filled with black lines. This still depended on his own ability, but at least Yao Chuguang had given his guarantee.

Seeing that Song Guanggu was not satisfied, Yao Chuguang knew that business was coming and said, "For the second type, the candidates don't need to do anything, just take the exam and you will pass directly, but it costs 10,000 taels of silver."

When Song Guanggu heard the beginning, he was about to say that he wanted this one, but when he heard the quotation at the end, he was stunned!

How much did this woman say?

Ten thousand taels of silver to buy a position as an accountant in the county government!

Is he crazy or is this woman crazy?

Yao Chuguang shrugged and said, "There's no way. Fu Hongxuan is a military commander, and the number of civil officials he knows can be counted on one hand. You can't do this kind of thing with someone you don't know!"

Song Guanggu was unable to refute for a moment. Fu Hongxuan was a military general and his connections were all in the military camp. He really didn't know anyone among the civil officials.

Song Guanggu was determined to find something to hold against Fu Hongxuan yesterday, and now is wartime.

If Fu Hongxuan were asked to promote a young military general, it would be as simple as raising his hand. Even as long as he could keep that person alive, it would be easy for him to be promoted as a centurion.

He wanted to ask Fu Hongxuan to promote a civil servant, but Song Guanggu never dreamed that Fu Hongxuan had no connections among civil servants.

It is even possible that Fu Hongxuan knows fewer civil servants than he does.

Song Guanggu felt mixed emotions for a moment!

This matter is outrageous, yet it also feels reasonable.

Your Majesty has just unified the country not long ago, and many civil officials did not even serve in the same previous dynasty.

"We only have a small portion of your ten thousand silver coins. Most of it will be used to bribe the county officials and those who failed the exam. As long as the silver is in place, they won't have any objections. And with Fu Hongxuan's support, this thing will be done!"

Yao Chuguang began to paint a rosy picture for Song Guanggu, saying, "This is the first time, so it's a bit expensive, but as long as we can get through this network, won't the rest be a piece of cake?"

Song Guanggu inexplicably felt that this sounded familiar: "You mean......"

Yao Chuguang began to draw his own business map and said, "I can tell from the first glance that you are someone who will accomplish great things."

Although this ten thousand taels can only buy an account office in a small county town, which seems to be not a good deal, what we do is never a one-time deal.

Our biggest problem at the moment is that we don’t have reliable connections.

But we also have an advantage that others don’t have, that is, we have a big backer, “Fu Hongxuan”!

Today we spent a large sum of money to buy out the entire county government office. Starting from this county government office, we will begin to buy off the local officials along the way.

You should know that the court is now in a state of disrepair, and His Majesty intends to begin measuring the land and taxes throughout the country.

Song Guanggu suddenly interrupted Yao Chuguang and said, "Wait! The court is going to start measuring the land? How did you know?"

Yao Chuguang gave Song Guanggu an expression that said, "You know what I mean." She was Fu Hongxuan's woman, so if Fu Hongxuan knew, it meant she knew too.

Song Guanggu quietly postponed the day of settling accounts with this woman. Although this woman was only interested in profit, she was well-informed.

It's still somewhat useful. Maybe I can get more information out of this woman in the future.

There was one thing that Song Guanggu couldn't understand. Fu Hongxuan was a military general. No matter how much the empress valued him, it was impossible for her to discuss such livelihood policy issues with Fu Hongxuan.

This is not a question of trust or not, but a crossing of the line. Just like civil officials will not give orders to military generals on the battlefield, military generals will not handle the affairs of civil officials.

How did Fu Hongxuan know this news?

Yao Chuguang whispered, "Is this even necessary? It's obvious. You should know that His Majesty, in order to motivate the soldiers to fight bravely, has already stated that anyone who sets foot on the battlefield, regardless of life or death, will be rewarded with a piece of wasteland!"

Yao Chuguang pointed underground again and said, "Do you know that there are millions of soldiers on the battlefield? With so many people, even if Her Majesty sells the palace and doesn't have that much land, she won't dare break her promise. So how will she get all this land?"

Song Guanggu understood instantly. He had been wandering around there for many years and naturally knew the ins and outs of it.

It seems that Your Majesty has set his sights on Yintian. You should know that the court's tax revenue is divided into head tax and land tax.

In order to pay less taxes, some landlords and wealthy families concealed their land, registered the land under other people's names, or tampered with the land dimensions, thus avoiding the court's taxation of the land.

As soon as Your Majesty starts measuring the land, those hidden fields will be exposed in an instant.

The empress could naturally confiscate the land and then redistribute it.

In this way, the gaps in the army can be filled instantly, and it may even be more than enough.

Song Guanggu's breathing suddenly became a little rapid. This was big news.

Yao Chuguang slowed down his voice, like a hook bobbing in the water, giving Tianzao a slap when he deserved it: "Are you thinking about how much you can sell this information to those people?"

Song Guanggu neither admitted nor denied that this woman was quite capable!

Yao Chuguang laughed sarcastically and said, "I advise you not to do this, it will only bring trouble to yourself."

Song Guanggu asked, "How do you cook it?"

Yao Chuguang said, "You should know that this is something only a few high-ranking officials know. Your Majesty has already begun planning this. Otherwise, why do you think he required civil officials to accompany him during the marches and battles?"

"You're not so naive as to think that Her Majesty only wants the civil officials to manage the city well so that the army at the front will have no worries?" Yao Chuguang supported his head and gave a sarcastic smile.

"As soon as those cities were captured, His Majesty ordered people to copy all the tax ledgers in the county government office and send them to the palace for verification." Yao Chuguang revealed the secret.

Song Guanggu was horrified that the empress had actually started planning so early!

Anyone who can think three steps ahead before taking one step is already a smart person among smart people.

But the empress had seen through their future from the very beginning!

Now the Empress has begun to settle all land registrations and taxes!

Song Guanggu originally wanted to make a fortune by using this information and face the court's thorough investigation.

The best way is to cook the books. In the past, people would secretly erase their land and names from the register.

Now they are adding it back without making a fuss. Although a large amount of land tax will have to be paid in the future, it is still better than having the land confiscated by the court.

As for why the previous tax revenue does not add up, the only explanation is that it was taken away by corrupt officials of the previous dynasty.

Anyway, the previous dynasty is no longer around, so you can throw whatever dirty water you want at it.

Now that the empress has been on guard against this move of theirs, if there are discrepancies between the registration books in the county government and the registration books in the court, wouldn't that be a confession?

If they directly tell the court that they are evading taxes, not only will their land be confiscated, they may even have their homes searched and be punished.

If only one or two people did this, it might be a coincidence.

But most people do this, so the news will just leak out.

The empress will definitely investigate who leaked the news, and those wealthy businessmen and landlords will definitely not keep the information secret. They will definitely rush to betray Song Guanggu in order to get a lighter sentence from the court.

When Song Guanggu thought of this, he suddenly felt a chill running up his spine and broke out in a cold sweat in an instant.

Now it seems that if I don't move, at least I will be caught. As long as I don't admit that it is my land, at least I can keep my property.

If the imperial court caught Yin Tian, he would be punished with confiscation of property and death.

Between money and life, one must choose to save life.

Song Guanggu felt a little regretful, knowing that such a great opportunity was in front of him, but he could only watch.