Chapter 1074 1069 [The uncooperative people do not cooperate]
South bank of Shah River.
Gong Miyuan took Yan Tao to a countryside.
Yan Tao admired the scenery along the way and praised repeatedly: "The fields are endless, the chickens and dogs hear each other, and the yellow hair is hanging down. They are all happy. What a paradise!"
Gong Miyuan said: "When Emperor Hunzong of the former Song Dynasty was in power, there were no such good days. Although Hua Shi Gang caused the most harm to Jiangnan, Huainan suffered a lot. Every now and then, Huainan civilians were sent to collect Hua Shi Gang. Now the imperial court is recruiting people to transport Hua Shi Gang.
There are only three to five hundred immigrants in a county, and the government also provides food. Compared with the previous Song Dynasty, it is nothing. In the former Song Dynasty, not only did the people collect large amounts and frequently, but they also had to bring their own food and drink..."
Yan Tao interrupted: "How can you compare the former Song Dynasty Emperor Hunjun with the current Holy Emperor?"
"It's my foolish brother who made a mistake," Gong Miyuan smiled awkwardly, "Later, the bandits from Shandong came again. The Song River alone had to go back and forth several times. The people of Huainan suffered a great crime. Later, the canal fell into disrepair, the river channel was silted up seriously, and water transportation was interrupted.
Hongze Lake overflowed every year, and two or three counties were flooded. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the Holy Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sympathized with the people of Huainan. He dredged the river, exempted miscellaneous taxes, and returned farmland to the lake around Hongze, and opened new roads.
Many irrigation canals were dug. Only after all these efforts did we have the peachland scene in front of us."
"It's really not easy," Yan Tao said angrily, "How can such a prosperous age be ruined by those silverfish?"
Gong Miyuan said: "Compared to the previous Song Dynasty, this is actually nothing. No matter how arrogant and domineering the Li family is, they would not dare to push people to death. Even in the fish and meat village, subordinate officials must have a sense of proportion. If this is put in front of
In the Song Dynasty, the Li family can be called benevolent and righteous, and the subordinate officials can be called innocent. Why are the wealthy families and the small officials in the government so cautious? They were all frightened by the thunderbolt methods of the Holy Emperor."
Yan Tao nodded in agreement: "The atmosphere has indeed changed. Things that were commonplace twenty years ago, now both officials and people know that they should not do it, and even if they do it, they have to cover it up and look for excuses. This imperial court's contribution to educating and educating the place, not only
You must use etiquette and law!”
"Ahead is Yudi's mentor's residence," Gong Miyuan said. "My mentor is called Li Yishu Xianggong, and he is also a clan member of Prime Minister Li Ge. The Li family has many branches in Chuzhou Prefecture, and it cannot be generalized. As for the owner of the Li family,
My mentor often scolded Zong’s current practices, thinking that they had ruined the Li family’s family tradition.”
Yan Tao asked: "Has Mr. Li Ge ever returned to his hometown?"
Gong Miyuan said: "Li Ge was busy with many things, so it was impossible for him to return to his hometown in person. However, his brother returned to his hometown to pay homage to his ancestors, split up the family and changed the household registration, and also donated the house and land to the Li family."
"That is to say, Mr. Li Ge has severed ties with his hometown." Yan Tao said.
Gong Miyuan said with a smile: "The household registration has been moved, the family property has been divided, and the relationship has been severed. But how can we really break it off? Mr. Li Ge must know what the head of the Li family did. My mentor once
After writing a letter to the capital to complain, Li Ge Lao immediately sent someone back to angrily rebuke his relatives, and even told the local officials not to take his face into consideration. But who would dare to be an official? Those Li clan members calmed down for a few months, and then returned to their old ways.
.Even worse!"
Yan Tao was also speechless.
He put himself in Li Hanzhang's shoes and found that it was impossible to do better.
They separated their families and moved away, gave away their property, and sent people back to warn them. After all these things, you have done your duty. You can't personally order a thorough investigation of your own clan, right?
Yan Tao asked again: "Apart from Mr. Li Ge's biological brothers and biological sons, who else in the Li family is serving as an official?"
Gong Miyuan said: "There are still two serious Jinshi. One is the younger brother of Mr. Li Ge, and the other is the nephew of Mr. Li Ge. They are away from home all year round and rarely return to their hometown. The current 'Tiger of Chuzhou' His name is Li Xiaojian, and he is the nephew of Mr. Li Ge in terms of seniority, but he is not much younger than Mr. Li Ge. He has been working as a civil servant, and he will not change his position even if he can. He is still in the government office and refuses to move. "
"If he were to become a high-ranking official, he would have been transferred to another place long ago. How could he stay in Chuzhou to make money?" Yan Tao was very disgusted with this kind of person. "If he can be an official, he will not be an official. He must be an official for life. He is not a man at all." Without any ambition, what else can he do but feed the common people?"
Gong Miyuan said: "The canal from Baoying to Huaiyin is Li Xiaojian's territory. Although he did not dare to set up tax cards privately, he often let local ruffians intercept business travelers by boat. If there was a strict investigation by local officials or censors, he would He just tipped off the gangsters. When there was no time to tip off, he also cooperated with the government to arrest the person, and then got involved in activities and received a light sentence, or even directly asked the government to release the person. Even if someone committed a murder and was executed, it had nothing to do with Li Xiaojian. "
A gang protection umbrella for a senior government official!
"There is a merchant surnamed Zhang over there in Qingzhou Stream, who owns a dyeing and cloth workshop and is extremely wealthy," Gong Miyuan pointed to the southwest and said, "Once he was caught for evading taxes. The normal penalty is to pay taxes and add a fine. Li Xiaojian insisted on colluding with other officials and forced the Zhang family to sell their property at a low price. The Zhang family's dyeing workshop, cloth workshop, and farmland were completely eaten up by Li Xiaojian and his associates. There are countless such things, and it is even difficult to catch him Evidence of guilt."
Yan Tao suddenly stopped walking.
Gong Miyuan asked: "Aren't you going to pay a visit to my mentor?"
Yan Tao shook his head and said: "Forget it, I won't embarrass the old gentleman and go to the nearby Bao Zhang's home."
Throughout the dynasties, the grassroots leaders such as security chiefs and li chiefs were not as prosperous as they seemed. Especially before the order in the countryside was completely out of control, they were "rats in the bellows--suffering from both ends."
The government forced them to collect taxes and services, and if the taxes were insufficient, they had to pay the taxes themselves. As a result, many families were ruined and their families died.
Once the tax is too heavy, no matter how hard they force the people, it will be useless, and they will end up bleeding a lot from each tax.
This situation often occurs in the middle period of the dynasty.
In the early days of the dynasty, taxes were generally not heavy, and even if you paid for it yourself, it was not much. As time went by, the excessive and miscellaneous taxes became more and more heavy, and more and more people were able to evade taxes. It's over.
Then, the dynasty entered a stage where reforms were necessary.
Tao Ding'an is the chief security officer here. Because it is the early years of the dynasty, he is usually quite nourishing and can even be called majestic.
The people here are also living a good life, because they are not allowed to collect excessive taxes and miscellaneous taxes after repeated orders, and normal agricultural taxes are not considered a burden in any dynasty.
At this moment, Tao Ding'an had a sad face.
He looked at his armor commanders: "Not all together yet?"
A chief said: "The masters want too much this time, and no one except the rich is willing to give money. Even if the rich are willing to give money, they only give a little bit. As for the big families, they directly honor Mr. Li, how can we
Dare you come and ask for it?"
Tao Ding'an asked: "Didn't you tell the villagers that if you don't give them money, you'll be forced to immigrate?"
"I told you," another commander said with a sad face, "but there are notices posted on the water and land routes. Those notices are clearly written. Our township is only recruiting more than 50 immigrants. When divided among our group, there are actually not many people left.
There are many educated people in the village who have memorized the notices and went back to the village to publicize them, so that the villagers are not afraid. Even if any family is selected for immigration, they will consider themselves unlucky."
Another commander said: "It is better to report it to the county government and let the county government send officials to arrest the person."
"Who are you arresting?" Tao Ding'an asked, "The villagers didn't pay any money, and everyone was arrested? The notice clearly stated that this time only immigrants will be selected, and all the money and food will be borne by the government, and the common people will not have to pay a penny.
Those officials didn't dare to arrest people at all, they only dared to force us to help collect money. Once they arrest people and make the matter bigger, we will be the ones who take the blame in the end."
"Fuck you!"
A commander gritted his teeth and said: "We are suffering from both sides. The villagers treat us like lackeys, and the government treats us like dogs, and they won't even throw away a few of their mother's bones. This time they are going to force us to go bankrupt!"
Tao Ding thought quietly for a long time and said, "There's something wrong with those notices."
"What's wrong? The top official didn't dare to offend Li Xiaojian and was afraid of taking responsibility, so he posted the notice."
"It was posted too quickly and written too carefully. In the past, I did not dare to write such detailed notices. They were obviously trying to prevent Li Xiaojian and others from making money. Magistrate Nie Wen did not dare to offend Li Xiaojian before, so why did he take the risk this time?
Woolen cloth?"
"The matter is too big and he is afraid that he can't handle it."
"That's right. The notice clearly states that this expedition to Dali is a military and national event to expand territory. The prefects are afraid that they will not be able to carry it out. How can we, the chief guards, handle it? The Holy Emperor is in charge, and the rules are strict.
It’s very important that such important matters must be inspected by the imperial censor.”
"Let's go to the censor and complain!"
"No. We don't know the details of the censor, and we don't know where the censor is. If you want to file a complaint, go to the magistrate to file a complaint, because the magistrate used his seal on the notice. He has offended Li Xiaojian, and he is our backer!
"
"This... this is too risky. What if the prefect becomes weak again and sells us to Li Xiaojian?"
"Then let him not be soft. Let's bring the villagers to complain! I don't know where the censor is hiding. Hundreds of ordinary people came to the city to ask for help. I don't believe that Prefect Nie dares to suppress the matter."
"But what about retaliating against us afterwards?"
"If you don't do this, there will be no need to retaliate afterwards. You and I will have to pay and lose everything. There are more than one or two Baojia chiefs in a situation like ours. We should contact them to take action together. By then, tens of thousands of people will gather in the province.
The city cries out for injustice and pleads for mercy!"
"If Li Xiaojian doesn't die this time, we will be miserable afterwards."
"Isn't the imperial court going to conquer Dali? It's better for my whole family to immigrate there with the army and open up territory for the Ming Dynasty than to stay here and go bankrupt and die!"
Yan Tao asked Gong Miyuan to take him to visit the Baozhang, and he saw many villagers gathering on the way.
Gong Miyuan ran over to inquire, and soon came back and said: "Things are about to get serious. Li Xiaojian is greedy, and the villagers are unwilling to pay after seeing the notice, forcing the chief of Baojia who is responsible for recruiting civilian husbands to take risks."
"There's no need to stop them, just follow them from a distance," Yan Tao said.
It was not that Li Xiaojian was greedy alone, but because of his existence, the atmosphere in Chuzhou Mansion was ruined. The people all wanted to make a fortune.
Magistrate Nie Wen's act of sending people to post notices was almost an explicit warning, but it still could not suppress the greed of many people.