Gasp! She's a Time Traveler Using Modern Tech to Improve Ancient Life-Chapter 551 - 550: The Aunt Returning to Her Maiden Home
In the fifth year of the Zhenguan era, on January 23rd, it was the day of Xiao Xianghua’s dowry ceremony.
On this day, families related to the Xiao Family either sent gifts or came in person to add to Xiao Xianghua’s dowry.
The dowry gift Lin Wanwan prepared for Xiao Xianghua was a glazed mirror with a copper stand, still the most eye-catching gift of the day.
However, because glazed mirrors had already appeared at the dowry ceremonies of twin sisters Xiao Shulian and Xiao Liwei, this time it did not shock everyone as it did the first time, but they were still amazed.
Everyone knew that the granddaughter of the Xiao Family had a Ranger as an elder brother who gave her many exotic imported items, wealthy enough to rival a nation, truly generous in her gifts.
The eldest aunt Madam Yuan had secretly thought when she saw the glazed mirrors at the dowry ceremonies of the two concubines, that what the concubines had, her legitimate daughter would certainly have more.
Seeing Lin Wanwan indeed took out another glazed mirror for Xiao Xianghua’s dowry today, Madam Yuan naturally beamed with joy.
Although Lin Wanwan did not prepare more generous gifts for Xiao Xianghua for being a legitimate daughter, which made Madam Yuan a tad uncomfortable.
But ultimately, the rarity of the glazed mirror quickly dispersed that tiny discomfort.
Today, Xiao Xianghua’s room was particularly lively, with relatives coming and going, both sending dowry gifts and saying auspicious words.
Yet the protagonist of this happy event sat quietly on the bedside, very silent, with an indifferent attitude, and merely followed the rules in a mechanical manner to give thanks when others presented gifts.
Although not enthusiastic, she could not be said to be rude, Xiao Xianghua did not lack any of the necessary etiquette, only her demeanor was aloof.
No matter how displeased others were, they could say nothing, only commenting on her composure with a graceful demeanor unaffected by honor and disgrace.
It was precisely that kind of polite distance that kept others at a thousand miles away without being offensive but remained unapproachable.
Madam Yuan kept entertaining in the room, occasionally complaining to the guests: "In the end, she is just a child, when the time comes like this, she doesn’t know how to speak."
The visitors would then echo: "She’s young and thin-skinned, she’ll be different once she’s married."
The marriage between the Xiao Family at southern Lanling and Wang Family of Langya was certainly a good talk, even if both sides were just minor branches, others would still be willing to give some dignity.
Therefore, today, there were especially many friends and relatives coming to add to Xiao Xianghua’s dowry, even many distant relatives who usually didn’t interact sent gifts.
Lin Wanwan also saw for the first time another daughter of Xiao’s mother, who is Lin Wanwan’s eldest aunt, surnamed Xiao, maiden name Yu Ning.
This eldest aunt married into the Pang Family in Linhai County, although the Pang Family wasn’t a noble family, it belonged to the nouveau riche.
Xiao’s elder uncle had a prosperous official career, considered a distinguished child of a humble family, currently working in Chang’an.
With Uncle Pang supporting the household, the Pang Family was also considered a prominent family locally.
The reason why Xiao came to Qiantang County this time was just a side event to add to Xiao Xianghua’s dowry, their real purpose was for the family to take a boat from Hangzhou Grand Canal to Chang’an to seek Pang’s elder uncle.
Since marriage, Xiao had returned to her parental home fewer than five times over more than twenty years. The long distance was one aspect, and the restriction on married women returning home at will was another.
Xiao’s husband, Pang Yifeng, was a landlord idler, relying on rent from tenants and income from shops to maintain an upper-class lifestyle. Though educated, he did not succeed in gaining official recognition through examinations.
Their legitimate eldest son, Pang Baoyan, perfectly inherited his father’s "study ability," it was difficult to enter the officialdom through self-study and examinations, relying on recommendation and ancestral shade was even more unlikely, so they focused their efforts elsewhere.
A few years ago when the nation was first settled, the Great Tang needed an immense amount due to the struggle for supremacy, taxes and finances became exhausted, difficult to sustain.
To solve problems like the salary of court officials and the administrative expenses of government offices, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan designed a set of schemes to tackle this problem—government loans and rentals, i.e., public office money and public office land.
Establish public office capital for the operational expenses of various departments.
However, not everyone could engage in lending and renting.
Engaging in high-interest loans could lead to losing everything for those without economic sense.
And land management wasn’t easy either, as land couldn’t guarantee consistent yields.
Land renting and revenue collections, grain trading, etc., were not simple tasks, any mistake could affect officials’ incomes.
So what to do?
Thus, the Emperor came up with another bright idea, introducing a unique "Money Catching Order" to specifically manage the affairs of public office money.
The KPI indicator for Money Catching Order is only one: lending at high interest.
The Three Provinces and Six Ministries of the court all had "Money Catching Orders," each office having 9 people, each managing fifty thousand coins, and lending through the market to common people, with interests paid to the court monthly.
This gave an entry opportunity to those who couldn’t rely on ancestry nor talent to become civil servants, who had some family assets.
It was actually a disguised form of selling offices, and legally so.
To prevent losing capital, Li Shimin also stipulated that profits must be realized. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Li Shimin researched the financial market of the Great Tang and confidently assessed that obtaining a hundred percent return on high-interest loans annually was feasible.
So each Money Catching Order must pay 4,000 interest to the court every month, totaling five thousand annually.
Those who fail to meet the kpi monthly are punished, nothing to say, but those who meet the kpi are rewarded.
If one completes the kpi for twelve consecutive months, they can queue at the Ministry of Personnel, waiting to be allocated an official position.
Having an official position to fulfill is a great temptation! Equivalent to buying an official title for fifty thousand a year without purely spending, managing high-interest loans well could earn extra, money-rich but power-poor individuals naturally rush forward.
The government’s high-interest loan business also thrived, and the financial needs of court officials and administrative expenses of government offices were covered by these funds.
However, not being a formal channel into officialdom, the positions granted wouldn’t be prominent, just minor official, with a cap and very limited room for promotion and salary increase.
Yet for wealthy individuals unable to rely on examinations nor recommendation, it was an invaluable opportunity.
The court and rich individuals served their purposes in this scenario.
For the sake of his son Pang Baoyan’s promising future, Pang Yifeng took his wife Xiao Yu Ning along with their household to Chang’an to seek out Pang’s elder uncle, planning to compete for a "Money Catching Official" position, exchanging for an official status.
Although the title "Money Catching Official" wasn’t pleasant, with development limits set in stone, no room for climbing higher.
But for the Pang family, who didn’t have great ambition, this was a promising future.
In the early Tang Dynasty, this system of public office money was only implemented within the Capital.
Under the Emperor’s scrutiny, people dared not be too excessive.
Moreover, emperors like Li Shimin, Li Zhi, Wu Zetian, were strong, able to suppress the officials below.
Therefore, the harms of this system were not too significant, and it solved the Emperor’s money shortfall to some extent.
But after the Anshi Rebellion, as the Tang Dynasty declined, deteriorating continuously, this high-interest loan business gradually spread across the country.
The hundred percent interest Li Shimin stipulated initially transformed into two hundred percent, three hundred percent, even up to a thousand, becoming a nightmare that bankrupted the common people.
