Fang Yingwu didn't want to get involved in the matter of grain collection, and he had two other considerations. First, the past and present were very different. He was a little worried about his own feathers, and didn't want to worry too much about worldly affairs. Being involved too much would degrade others' impressions.
own character;
The second is to let the clan chief to practice his ability to deal with things. You can't bother him with big and small things. What's the use of asking him to be the chief? It's better for Fang Yingwu to work part-time by himself.
Two days later, the weather was nice, and Fang Yingwu was studying in the courtyard. Now he realized more deeply that studying was the foundation of his life, and being a preparatory scholar was just the starting point.
It was rare to see such bright sunshine in late autumn. Fang Yingwu had not finished reading a few pages of the book when he suddenly saw the uncle running over again, sweating profusely.
Before he even reached me, I heard him shouting repeatedly: "My dear husband! Something bad is going to happen!"
"Although the harvest of autumn grain may not be complete at the moment, it can be delivered in batches. Yesterday I sent the first batch of tax grain to the county warehouse, but I was informed by the county clerk that the order of my Huaxi fields had been changed from middle field to upper field.
!”
Fang Yingwu was also surprised when he went to the fields. Chun'an County is a mountainous county, and the conditions of the fields vary greatly. According to the county's tax regulations, the fields are divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower according to their fertility.
The total amount of taxed grain is stipulated by the court, and then divided into various levels of fields according to a certain proportion. The taxes borne by the upper fields are higher, and the taxes borne by the lower fields are relatively low.
From a system perspective, this is to reflect the principle of equal taxation, so as to avoid the disadvantage of having to bear the same taxes on both the upper and lower fields. Of course, the system and reality are not necessarily uniform, and the human factors in operation are another matter.
The fields in Huaxi are good or bad. They have been designated as middle fields decades ago, and they only need to pay taxes according to the middle field standards. Why were they suddenly changed to upper fields? This is not a good thing.
Specifically speaking, the tax on Shangtian in Chun'an County is one-third higher than that on Zhongtian. People would rather downgrade the land than raise it. Whenever the land is upgraded, there is only one reason: it has been hacked.
Fang Fengshi was a little confused and narrated incoherently: "This time I delivered thirty-seven shi of tax and grain plus a certain amount of rice, so I thought I could hand it in first to meet the half-month limit.
Unexpectedly, the clerk in charge of the warehouse took out the land register and said that from this year onwards, our fields in Huaxi have been changed to upper fields, and we must pay taxes and grain according to the standard of upper fields."
"Why are you panicking!" Fang Yingwu shouted calmly and asked directly about the key point: "How much tax has been increased this time?"
"The main item has increased by twelve dan, and the additional consumption has increased by 24 dan. Now we have to pay a total of ninety-eight dan for the imperial grain. Including the cheap rice consumption for the county officials, we have to pay at least 100 dan!
"
Fang Yingwu was silent for a moment and simply did some math in his mind. From seventy-four stones to one hundred stones, this increase was not low.
An increase of 30 to 40 dan in tax and grain may not seem like much, but Huaxi is a place with a lot of people and little land. Five to six hundred people guard 1,000 acres of land, and the food is barely enough to eat. Paying more tax and grain is very frustrating.
Heart-wrenching things.
Fang Fengshi complained again: "My dear husband, what should I do with this? Those subordinate officials are like wolves and tigers. I argued with them in the county for a long time and was beaten up. I really have no choice."
Only then did Fang Yingwu notice that Fang Fengshi's clothes were torn in several places and his face was slightly bruised. It looked like he had been beaten.
When the matter has reached this point, Fang Yingwu must find a way to take care of it, and he cannot ignore it. This is not only a slap in the face of Huaxi, but also a slap in the face of Huaxi Village's top squire Fang Qingzhi and his son.
Internal disputes are nothing more than internal disputes. If outsiders infringe upon their interests and Fang Yingwu refuses to do anything about it, then "people's hearts will be scattered and it will be difficult to lead the team." Ordinary people do not rely on the squire just to be protected and have a backer. If the protection is
If not, then who will listen to you in the future?
But where to start? Fang Yingwu thought of another question, which puzzled him.
The dynasty has extremely strict control over the amount of taxation in the system. The total amount of money and grain in the world is fixed in advance, and the quantity in each place is also fixed in advance. Chun'an County is no exception. This is a political principle that has been established since the time of Taizu.
Local governments can make a fuss about losses, regular money and other side issues, but they cannot increase regular taxes without authorization. If the tax is publicly increased without the permission of the court, it will be a political mistake and it will also bear the reputation of exploitation and etching.
In other words, if the three villages of Huaxi pay an extra portion of the regular tax, then there must be other places in the county that pay less, in order to achieve the overall effect of keeping the county's regular tax unchanged.
So who took advantage and paid less taxes? This question is very important. There is a law in the detective world that the biggest beneficiary is the biggest suspect.
Thinking of this, Fang Yingwu felt that he had grasped the context of the matter, and immediately asked his uncle again: "Since you have paid grain to the county, have you heard of any place that has reduced taxes?"
Fang Fengshi recalled carefully, "When I went to the county this time, I met people from Cixi in my hometown. I heard that their taxes and grains this year were 20% less than last year."
Cixi? Cixi Hu Family? Fang Yingwu suddenly realized that there was no need to guess at all! The truth is here, and there is only this one truth!
The land registers are all in the county government office. To modify the field classification and tax amount, you must go through the household official! With the strength of the Hu family, as long as they want to do such a thing, there is no doubt that it can be done!
Fang Yingwu can also figure out the thoughts of the housekeepers. The new squire of the Fang family seems to have a weak foundation, and he doesn't look so scary and difficult to offend. With the support of the Hu family, he can make some money on the way.
The good thing is, it's not a big deal.
The Hu family has lost face with the Fang family. Whether it is lost actively or passively, it must regain its place, otherwise it will be equivalent to showing weakness.
Last time they lost face in terms of soft power, and there were no good opportunities for a while, so it seems that they want to get it back from hard power. Using hard power to make up for soft power, and reducing it to ten levels at once, can be regarded as
It's just a way of doing things.
The purpose is not only to regain ground, but also to undermine the momentum of the other Fang family and maintain the facade of the established family.
And the timing was chosen well. Fang Qingzhi, the real pillar of the Fang family, went to the capital. No matter what the exam results are, he will not come back until at least April next year. Currently, only Fang Yingwu, a little boy, is the one supporting the show.
For the Hu family, this period of time is the best time. Otherwise, when Fang Qingzhi comes back, the situation will only be more difficult than now.
Besides, Huaxi and Cixi both belong to Zitong Township. It would be easier to coordinate the tax and food issues in one township, and even the county officials would not need to be alarmed.
The Hu family, the Hu family, why did they show up again? Their methods are still good, Fang Yingwu sighed. This is a bit difficult to handle. Grandpa wants to deal with himself, and it is difficult to control the propriety of his own resistance.
Don't let your anger out. If you go too far, you will be seen as bullying your elders. This is the tragedy of the younger generation.
Fang Fengshi looked at Fang Yingwu and said nothing for a long time. Unlike in the past when he was talking and laughing, he just stood there thinking about it, feeling even more unsure.
He couldn't help it anymore and said out loud: "My dear husband, you can talk to the county magistrate. Why don't you go talk to the county magistrate about this matter?"
"That's not possible!" Fang Yingwu flatly denied it. How could he go directly to the magistrate about this matter? There was no way the magistrate would help them. This was purely asking for trouble.
First of all, this time the Hu family seems to be angry and wants to vent their anger. Every cautious person should think carefully when faced with this situation. Fang Yingwu doesn’t know whether the magistrate will lean towards the Hu family, but he can be sure that it is unlikely to be so.
In other places, things should be here.
Secondly, even if we look at the comparison of strength, the Fang family's Jieyuan has not yet transformed into hard power, but the Hu family already has a senior official in the government. If mishandling is handled improperly and someone gets caught, the boss will submit a memorial to Wang Zhixian.
It's time to change places.
I don’t know if there is a protective amulet like the one in Dream of Red Mansions these days, but if it does exist, the Hu family must be on the protective amulet in Chun’an County.
Third, no matter what the outcome is, the county's taxes and grains will not be enough. The question of who pays more and who pays less will not affect political performance. Therefore, there is no need for Wang Zhixian to stand up between the two parties, so why go through the trouble of being thankless?
Xiang Zhu thought to himself that he might even wish for the local squires to fight to the death, so that the local magistrates from outside the country could sit on both sides of the fence and benefit from it. If it was someone else who should be the magistrate of the county, he would definitely do this.
Moreover, from Fang Yingwu’s previous dealings with him, he knew that Wang Zhixian himself was an indecisive person, and it was not very reliable to place all hope on him. Therefore, it was better to rely on oneself.
"Then what else can we do?" Fang Fengshi asked.
Fang Yingwu smiled and said, "Go to the village and recruit some people. As long as they are young and strong, twenty or thirty of them will be fine! Come with me tomorrow!"
"Then find more people, call both the Wang family and the Cheng family, and it won't be a problem to gather hundreds of young people!" Hearing the leader's decision and giving the order, Fang immediately geared up and was ready to make a move.
"Why do we need so many people?" Fang Yingwu asked in surprise.
Fang Fengshi said impassionedly: "Although the Hu family is good at studying, they are not good at fighting! This time the Cheng and Wang families have also suffered. If the three families work together, I don't believe they can't defeat the Hu family!"
Fang Yingwu laughed dumbly, unable to tell that this clan uncle was quite aggressive. He had almost forgotten that in such a place where clans live together, disputes arise between big families, and fighting is common. No wonder the clan uncle heard his summons
Qing Zhuang thought that he was going to use force to solve the problem.
"We don't need so many people, and we can only use people from our Fang family. We have to go to the county, not the Hu family." Fang Yingwu stopped his uncle who was preparing to launch a large army in Huaxi.
Not fighting with Hu's weapons? Fang Fengshi was confused, "What are we going to do?"
Fang Yingwu replied concisely and concisely: "Go and bully people!"
"Who are you bullying?" Fang Fengshi became even more confused.
"If anyone bullies you in the county, we will bully you back!"
Fang Feng suddenly realized: "You mean those subordinate officials? Is this okay?"
Fang Yingwu said proudly: "Why not? I can't afford to offend the Hu family, so how can I afford to offend these bitches? My father is also Master Jieyuan after all!"
"Little Xianggong, what a great idea!" Fang Fengshi was not completely incompetent, he immediately understood Fang Yingwu's thoughts.
